Can wild bees live in human-dominated cities? Are there bees in Chicago? How many different species? We’ve learned that the short answer to this question is: “Yes, there are wild bees in Chicago, and there are more than 80 species!” But is there anything special about these bees that allow them to persist in harsh urban environments? Do they possess certain ecological traits? Do they live in certain ways? And what factors promote or degrade pollinator diversity and pollination services in the city? We’ve been exploring these questions within the city of Chicago, along an urbanization gradient paralleling the Union Pacific North Metra Line from the city of Chicago up to the Chicago Botanic Garden. And we’ve also been exploring how variation in urbanization can influence pollination to crops at Windy City Harvest, a network of small urban farms spread out across the Chicago. (CaraDonna, Iler, Gruver, Zink)