INSECT OLFACTION
Bees have a great sense of smell, which they rely on heavily to navigate the world. Recent studies have demonstrated pesticides may alter an insects' ability to process olfactory (or smell-based) information, making it challenging to locate flowers, nest sites, or mates.
In a recent paper with Dr. Dennis Mathew, we examined how a neonicotinoid pesticide alters insect olfaction in the well-studied Drosophila melanogaster system. We found these pesticides caused disruptions in the activity of an individual olfactory neuron as well as disruptions to olfactory-guided behavior in this insect.
MICROBIOMES
Another aspect of bee health that fascinates me is the bee gut microbiome. Microbes in the bee gut are important for digestion and survival, but even some behaviors too. My current work seeks to understand site-level variation in both bee survival and microbiome stability when exposed to multiple pesticides. The work is still in progress, but one exciting finding was the role parasitoids play in this dynamic. Stay tuned!
PLANT-POLLINATOR INTERACTIONS
When discussing the effects of pesticide exposure on bees, we often focus on direct exposure of individual bees or entire colonies to these chemicals. However, in natural settings, bees may come into contact with plants that contain these chemicals which begs the question: Can bees sense or learn to avoid contaminated plants? This is a key question in another ongoing project of mine, so stay tuned for more details!
