Research

Measuring the realized pollination effectiveness of pollinators: Quantifying the pollination effectiveness of different members of the pollinator community is a crucial step for evaluating pollination services in managed and natural ecosystems. However, the traditional "single-visit" approach largely ignores important aspects of pollinator behavior and mophology, likely leading to erroneous estimates of the actual pollination services delivered. Using apple orchards as a model system, I seek to develop a more realistic framework for measuring pollination effectiveness by applying a combination of field, botanical, and genetic techniques. This research forms the basis of my current work in the James Thomson Lab at University of Toronto.

Interplay among pesticides, insect pests, predatory arthropods, and pollinators:
In a crop system, balancing effective pest control and protection of beneficial organisms such as pollinators requires intimate understanding of the chemicals and organisms involved, and how they impact one another. I studied this interplay in Ohio's pumpkin agro-ecosystem as part of a multi-state effort to examine trade-offs between pest management and pollinator protection in cucurbit crops in the Midwestern USA. This research was conducted during my previous postdoc in the Karen Goodell Lab at The Ohio State University.

Effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator diversity and pollination services: Habitat loss and fragmentation is one of the most serious threats to biodiversity worldwide. I studied how this process impacted the diversity and ecological function of native pollinator assemblages in an endangered biodiversity hotspot--San Diego's coastal scrub ecosystem. This research was part of my PhD dissertation in the David Holway Lab at UC San Diego.

Ecology and distribution of non-managed western honey bees: The western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is the most extensively managed and economically important insect in the world, but our knowledge of its impacts on plant-pollinator mutualisms at the global and local scale is relatively limited. I examined the global ecology of honey bees using a meta-analytic approach, and examined the community-level ecology of honey bees using a pollination network approach. This research was part of my PhD dissertation in the David Holway Lab at UC San Diego.