Main interests
I am interested in the organization and
nutritional ecology of eusocial animals. My research mainly focuses on the
division of labor, foraging behavior and the distribution of nutrients
within a colony. I have a number of
graduate students
and
undergraduate students
working in my lab. If you are interested in working
with me feel free to
contact me.
Current Research
Nutritional Ecology of Social Insects:
A
social insect colony, much
like an organism, can be divided into specific physiological units.
There are
different castes, which have different nutritional requirements.
Different colony members specialize in growth, reproduction, defense, and
maintenance. Each of these components has different nutritional requirements.
Thus, colonies, much like organisms, should distribute nutrients to its members according to
different individual needs.
My lab is investigating the role of
macronutrients and micronutrients
(ions and vitamins)
in the nutritional ecology, physiology, and behavior of social
insects. There are four main avenues that my lab is exploring.
1) How are different micronutrients and macronutrients distributed in a colony?
2) Does the foraging behavior and food distribution of a colony change during the year?
3) Are there nutritional difference between castes during developing and adult individuals ?
I am examining these questions in wasps, ants and termites. These social insects have different colony structures and thus have different predictions as to how nutrients should be distributed. One major undertaking of my lab is the generation of nutritional profiles for different social insects. Nutritional profiles are base-line data set that describe the distribution of nutrients within a colony (or individual) throughout its life cycle. By mapping out the distribution of nutrients of a colony at different stages of its life cycle we gain a better understanding of the differences in nutrient levels between castes and how nutrient levels change within individual castes within their life times. These profiles are important tools for predicting what nutrients might play important roles in caste determiation and the regulation of behavior. Much of this research is done in collaboration with Dr. Matthew Fasnacht in the Chemistry Department.
Nutritional Ecology of Trap-nesting Wasps and Bees: To better understand the possible origins of nutritional differences between castes of social insects it is useful to look at solitary relatives. This may give us insight in which nutritional states found in different castes of social insects are ancestral.