Who we are?
Research Group Leader
Dr. Margaret J. Couvillon
Assistant Professor, Pollinator Biology & Ecology
I am a broadly trained bee researcher with a particular interest in the foraging and recruitment behaviors of the honey bee. I earned my undergraduate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans (B.S. in Biology, minor in Chemistry) and then spent a year as an AmeriCorps *NCCC volunteer. I completed a M.S. in Neurobiology at Duke University before moving overseas for my Ph.D. with Professor Francis Ratnieks at the University of Sheffield, where I investigated mechanisms of nestmate recognition in honey bees and stingless bees. As a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Anna Dornhaus at the University of Arizona, I investigated proximate and ultimate explanations for worker size variation in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens. For a second postdoc, I rejoined the lab of Francis Ratnieks, now at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. There I worked to develop the honey bee, in particular its waggle dance communication, as a bioindicator for the "health" of the British landscape.
I started as an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech in 2017. My lab will be looking for enthusiastic and motivated graduate students to begin autumn 2019. Check out the "Opportunities" tab for more information. Interested postdocs and undergrads should contact me directly.
Contact: Email me | Google Scholar Profile | Download CV | The BeeGroup @ VT Facebook Page
Assistant Professor, Pollinator Biology & Ecology
I am a broadly trained bee researcher with a particular interest in the foraging and recruitment behaviors of the honey bee. I earned my undergraduate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans (B.S. in Biology, minor in Chemistry) and then spent a year as an AmeriCorps *NCCC volunteer. I completed a M.S. in Neurobiology at Duke University before moving overseas for my Ph.D. with Professor Francis Ratnieks at the University of Sheffield, where I investigated mechanisms of nestmate recognition in honey bees and stingless bees. As a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Anna Dornhaus at the University of Arizona, I investigated proximate and ultimate explanations for worker size variation in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens. For a second postdoc, I rejoined the lab of Francis Ratnieks, now at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. There I worked to develop the honey bee, in particular its waggle dance communication, as a bioindicator for the "health" of the British landscape.
I started as an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech in 2017. My lab will be looking for enthusiastic and motivated graduate students to begin autumn 2019. Check out the "Opportunities" tab for more information. Interested postdocs and undergrads should contact me directly.
Contact: Email me | Google Scholar Profile | Download CV | The BeeGroup @ VT Facebook Page
Graduate students
Bradley Ohlinger
Brad is broadly interested in social insect communication, especially the individual and group-level behaviors used to allocate foragers according to the needs of their colony. He earned his B.S. in Environmental Science at Albright College and his M.S. in Biology from Bloomsburg University, where he studied flower constancy and innate color choice in the honey bee and the alfalfa leaf-cutter bee.
For his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech, Brad is investigating honey bee foraging across different landscapes in Virginia. In particular, he will use the honey bee waggle dance to understand the spatial and temporal availability of food for honey bees in representative areas. Brad is co-advised by Dr. Maggie Couvillon and Dr. Roger Schürch.
Brad is broadly interested in social insect communication, especially the individual and group-level behaviors used to allocate foragers according to the needs of their colony. He earned his B.S. in Environmental Science at Albright College and his M.S. in Biology from Bloomsburg University, where he studied flower constancy and innate color choice in the honey bee and the alfalfa leaf-cutter bee.
For his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech, Brad is investigating honey bee foraging across different landscapes in Virginia. In particular, he will use the honey bee waggle dance to understand the spatial and temporal availability of food for honey bees in representative areas. Brad is co-advised by Dr. Maggie Couvillon and Dr. Roger Schürch.
Mary Silliman
Mary is interested in pollination and landscape ecology, with particular interest in statistical and ecological modeling. She earned her B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Appalachian State University and conducted undergraduate research in bumble bee floral preferences.
For her M.S. at Virginia Tech, Mary is investigating honey bee foraging in row crop systems. She will use the honey bee waggle dance to determine the contribution of row crops, plants traditionally considered not to feed pollinators, to colony nutrition. Mary is co-advised by Dr. Maggie Couvillon and Dr. Sally Taylor.
Mary is interested in pollination and landscape ecology, with particular interest in statistical and ecological modeling. She earned her B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Appalachian State University and conducted undergraduate research in bumble bee floral preferences.
For her M.S. at Virginia Tech, Mary is investigating honey bee foraging in row crop systems. She will use the honey bee waggle dance to determine the contribution of row crops, plants traditionally considered not to feed pollinators, to colony nutrition. Mary is co-advised by Dr. Maggie Couvillon and Dr. Sally Taylor.
Taylor Steele
Taylor is interested in plant-pollinator interactions and how pollinators determine the health of our ecosystem. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Management and Protection at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo in California. Her background has included research in effect of neonicotinoid residue on honey bee health and diversity of native pollinators among highly disturbed habitat.
For her M.S. at Virginia Tech, Taylor is investigating honey bee foraging in fruit and food crop systems in Northern Virginia. She will use the honey bee waggle dance to determine the contribution of fruit orchards, landscapes that often depend on honey bee pollination, to colony forage.
Taylor is interested in plant-pollinator interactions and how pollinators determine the health of our ecosystem. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Management and Protection at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo in California. Her background has included research in effect of neonicotinoid residue on honey bee health and diversity of native pollinators among highly disturbed habitat.
For her M.S. at Virginia Tech, Taylor is investigating honey bee foraging in fruit and food crop systems in Northern Virginia. She will use the honey bee waggle dance to determine the contribution of fruit orchards, landscapes that often depend on honey bee pollination, to colony forage.
Undergraduate students
Molly Kwitny
Molly is a junior at Virginia Tech working towards a degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in Entomology. She divides her time between Couvillon Lab and Schurch Lab. During the summer, Molly worked in the field ona bee feeder experiments. She is currently working on waggle dance decoding.
Molly is a junior at Virginia Tech working towards a degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in Entomology. She divides her time between Couvillon Lab and Schurch Lab. During the summer, Molly worked in the field ona bee feeder experiments. She is currently working on waggle dance decoding.
Jack Taylor
Jack is a junior at Virginia Tech from Annapolis, Maryland currently working towards a degree in Geography with minors in GIS and Geo-science. Jack is assisting with waggle dance decoding and, during the summer, with hands-on bee feeder experiments.
Jack is a junior at Virginia Tech from Annapolis, Maryland currently working towards a degree in Geography with minors in GIS and Geo-science. Jack is assisting with waggle dance decoding and, during the summer, with hands-on bee feeder experiments.
Keiran Zwirner
Keiran is a senior at VT working towards a degree in Fish and Wildlife Conservation with a minor in Forestry. As a student researcher, Keiran performed a calibration experiment to understand the duration/distance relationship in the honey bee waggle dance for our Virginian bee population and is currently assisting in waggle dance decoding.
Keiran is a senior at VT working towards a degree in Fish and Wildlife Conservation with a minor in Forestry. As a student researcher, Keiran performed a calibration experiment to understand the duration/distance relationship in the honey bee waggle dance for our Virginian bee population and is currently assisting in waggle dance decoding.
Research technician
Dr. Parry Kietzman
Parry is interested in self-organizing systems and group decision-making using honey bee communication as a model. She completed her Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of California at Riverside, where she worked with Dr. P. Kirk Visscher on elucidating the role of the honey bee stop signal in both swarming and foraging colonies. She conducted her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. David Tarpy at North Carolina State University as part of a collaborative project on honey bee virus genetics with the Bee Informed Partnership.
She divides her time between the Couvillon Lab at Virginia Tech and the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective in West Virginia, where she helps train and mentor new beekeepers and is involved in a multi-year research project on honey bee management systems.
For more information on Dr. Kietzman and her research, see her website cellophanewings.com
Parry is interested in self-organizing systems and group decision-making using honey bee communication as a model. She completed her Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of California at Riverside, where she worked with Dr. P. Kirk Visscher on elucidating the role of the honey bee stop signal in both swarming and foraging colonies. She conducted her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. David Tarpy at North Carolina State University as part of a collaborative project on honey bee virus genetics with the Bee Informed Partnership.
She divides her time between the Couvillon Lab at Virginia Tech and the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective in West Virginia, where she helps train and mentor new beekeepers and is involved in a multi-year research project on honey bee management systems.
For more information on Dr. Kietzman and her research, see her website cellophanewings.com
Junior researcher
Nathaniel Schürch
Nate was born May 2017. He is investigating the effects of periodic sleep disturbance on the well-being of his parents.
Nate was born May 2017. He is investigating the effects of periodic sleep disturbance on the well-being of his parents.
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