Broadly, we are interested in understanding a range of symbiotic interactions, from pathogens to beneficial gut microbes. We integrate approaches from microbiology, epidemiology, functional genomics, and behavior in social insect model systems to study these dynamic interactions. Social insects live in large societies, much like human society, in which thousands of highly genetically related individuals interact in close proximity, putting them at high risk for disease outbreaks. Consequently, honey bees and most ants have evolved different mechanisms of disease resistance such as: individual innate immune responses; collective colony-level immune response known as social immunity; and immune response generated by beneficial symbionts (e.g., mutualistic microbes) found in/on individuals. In particular, we are interested in co-evolution and interactions of mutualistic bacteria and pathogenic fungi in honey bee larvae, and the effect they have on larval immunity and behavior. We are also using social insect contact networks to study pathogen spread and regulation within the ant Temnothorax curvispinosus colony.

    Student Research Day 2022 @ Rowan University 

   Poster presentation July 2021: Summer Undergraduate Research Program Symposium @ Rowan University
    Culturing honey bee gut microbiome 2021
    Setting up new honey bee colonies 2021 (Mathew Pekora and Olivia Smithson)