Neal Williams – PI
Pollination biology, bee ecology evolution and behavior, agroecology
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Email
Postdoctoral Researchers
Maj Rundlöf
Agroecology, bumble bees, ecotoxicology, landscape ecology, pollination
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I currently work in the interface between landscape ecology and ecotoxicology, mainly in the DELETE project (DEveloping Landscape Ecotoxicology in Terrestrial Ecosystems: Pesticide Exposure and Effects on Bees). In this project, we conduct empirical landscape ecological experiments to assess how pesticide exposure and food availability determine the development and reproduction in bee colonies and populations and the pollination services that the bees provide. I am visiting the Williams’ lab as an International Career Grant Fellow to combine findings from field studies with individual based modelling to see if the results can be generalized. My background is in environmental science, ecology and conservation biology, with a PhD in animal ecology. During my PhD studies at Lund University, I focused on the influence of organic farming on farmland biodiversity. As a postdoc at SLU Uppsala, my focus shifted towards the services, mainly pollination, that the farmland biodiversity provides.
Tina Harrison 
Biodiversity, global change, community ecology, bees
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I study how global change alters biodiversity, from local community assemblages to biogeographic spatial scales. In the Williams lab, I am applying machine learning techniques to understand how plant diversity supports insect diversity. An application of this research is designing seed mixes for restoration plantings that support crop pollination and pest control, while minimizing pest species. I am also running a field project to quantify how restoration plantings affect incidence of pests and predators in almond crops. My previous work at Rachael Winfree’s lab at Rutgers University focused on conservation of native bee diversity and the response of wild bee communities to agricultural and urban land use.
Graduate Students
John M. Mola
Bumblebees, foraging, dispersal, population genetics, movement ecology
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My dissertation is focused on the movement ecology of the yellow-faced bumblebee. Foraging and nest selection are critical components of central place forager’s life cycles. However, our ability to make inferences about these behaviors in bumblebees is often limited by idiosyncrasies between study methods and focal species. In my research, I use a single bumblebee widely-abundant species (Bombus vosnesenskii) and a common methodology to investigate foraging, nest selection, and dispersal in a variety of ecological contexts. I use genetic methods and GIS to aid in my studies. I’m broadly interested in pollination ecology, population ecology, population genetics, and all things bees.
Ross Brennan
Conservation, biodiversity, functional traits, interaction turnover
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My interests range from basic bee and plant biology to community ecology and ecosystem function. I am particularly fascinated by how species interact as members of complex networks, how individuals accumulate into populations and communities, and how species play different roles within ecological communities. My previous work has focused on the co-flowering phenology of montane wildflower communities, phenology and diversity of Rocky Mountain bee species, and characterizing a bipartite plant-pollinator interaction network across time. I hope to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics and ecosystem functional roles of various plants and pollinators within natural plant-pollinator networks. Megachile relativa is one of my favorite native bee species.
Clara Stuligross
Bee ecology, agroecology, environmental stressors, pesticides, nutrition
Email
I am interested in the direct and interactive effects of environmental stressors on native bees. Specifically, I focus on nutrition and pesticide exposure and their comparative effects on Osmia lignaria and Bombus vosnesenskii fitness, health, and behavior. Previously, I studied native bee communities in blueberry fields and the response of bumblebee colonies to insecticide drift. I also studied the risks bumblebees face by both floral resource scarcity and an endoparasitoid conopid fly using an RFID system.
Maureen Page
Agriculture, conservation, pollination, networks
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I am broadly interested in pollination ecology and pollinator conservation in applied agricultural settings. My previous research has included developing a solitary bee monitoring program for the Bernard Field Station (Claremont, CA) and investigating whether some insects are more effective at pollinating Echinacea angustifolia than others. My dissertation research focuses on using plant-pollinator interaction networks to (i) assess the impact of honey bee introductions on native plant pollination and (ii) optimize wildflower plantings to simultaneously support managed and native bees.
Nick Rosenberger
Pollination biology, global change, community ecology, plant mating systems
Email
I am interested in plant-pollinator interactions in the context of floral reproduction. Primarily, I am interested in how drivers of global change (e.g. climate change and species invasion) alter phenological timing of plant-pollinator interactions and whether this matters in the context of plant mating system/life history strategies. For my MSc work I studied how the introduced bumble bee Bombus terrestris displaces the native Patagonian bumble bee Bombus dahlbomii’s interaction with Fuchsia magellanica through nectar robbing, and how such nectar robbing alters plant female reproductive success throughout the entire reproduction process.
Lab Assistants
Anna Britzman
Colin Fagan
Undergraduate Researchers
Gigi Melone (University of California, Davis)
Naomi Murray (University of California, Davis)
Undergraduate Assistants
Adela Contreras (University of California, Davis)
Devanie Harper (University of California, Davis)
Elsa Walsh (University of California, Davis)
Past Members
Lab Manager
Kimiora Ward, Restoration Program Coordinator, Institute for Applied Ecology; https://appliedeco.org/kimiora-ward/
Postdoctoral Scholars
Claire Brittain, http://clairebrittain.wordpress.com/
Jessica Forrest, Assistant Professor University of Ottawa
Jochen Fruend, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Guelph, Currently at University of Freiburg
Sandra Gillespie, Postdoctoral Scholar, Simon Fraser University
Ola Lundin, Postdoctoral Scholar, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala
Rosemary Malfi, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Massachusetts Amherst Rosemary’s website
Graduate Students
Jennifer VanWyk, (PhD) 2018, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Leslie Saul-Gershenz, (PhD) 2017, Postdoctoral Scholar, UC Davis
Rei Scampavia, (PhD) 2017, Consulting in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rei’s website
Katharina Ullmann, (PhD) 2014, Director of UC Davis Student Farm
Ryder Diaz, (MS) 2012, http://www.ryderdiaz.com/
Felix Klaus, (Fulbright Scholar) 2014, Current PhD student in Teja Tschartnke’s group at Georg-August-University Göttingen
Junior Specialists and Lab Assistants
Kitty Bolte, Xerces Society Pollinator Habitat Specialist
Logan Rowe, Conservation Associate, Michigan Natural Features Inventory
Staci Cibotti, pursuing PhD at Penn State
Kate Borchardt, pursuing PhD at Iowa State
Andrew Buderi, pursuing PhD at University of Louisiana Lafayette
Mike Epperly, traveling the country and making beautiful art!
Undergraduates
Kate Borchardt (University of California, Davis 2018)
Beth Beyer (University of California, Davis 2017)
Jessica Drost (University of California, Davis 2017)
Sonja Glasser (University of California, Davis 2015)
Mira Parekh (University of California, Davis 2013)
Alexi Haack (University of California, Davis 2013)
Sarah Bolm (University of California, Davis 2012)
Emily McGlynn (Bryn Mawr College 2009) – Native bee benefits for agriculture in the Mid-Atlantic
Kristen Jenkins (Bryn Mawr College 2009) – Functional Compensation and biodiversity loss
Sarah Allard (Haverford College 2009) – Functional Compensation and biodiversity loss
Cecily Moyer (Haverford College 2009) – The role of floral morphology and reward in structuring pollinator plant networks
Rosemary Malfi (Bryn Mawr College 2007) – The effect of urban development on Bombus communities in the Delaware Valley, PA
Daniela Miteva (Bryn Mawr College 2007) – Pollinator communities and pollination in eastern old fields, Pollinator and pollen deposition webs in restored meadows
Amanda Rahi (Bryn Mawr College 2007) – The contributions of specialist and generalist bees to reproductive success of desert mallow