Marla Spivak -“A Century of Honey Bee Discoveries at the University of Minnesota”
Marla Spivak is a MacArthur Fellow and McKnight Distinguished Professor in Entomology at the University of Minnesota. She obtained her Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of Kansas 1989 on the ecology and identification of Africanized honey bees in Costa Rica. Her research efforts at the UMN focus on protecting and enhancing the health of bees through social immunity and bee breeding. She is looking forward to retiring on New Years Eve 2024, and is confident an excellent honey bee researcher will be hired to replace her.
Dr. Mike Goblirsch – Developing a research program in honey bee cell culture (and other honey bee research)
Dr. Mike Goblirsch is a Research Entomologist stationed at the Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Research Laboratory in Poplarville MS. His current research focuses on the use of a continuous cell line that he established from honey bee embryonic tissues to explore the effects of pathogens, such as viruses, and pesticides on honey bee health at the cellular and molecular levels to inform about adverse outcomes for honey bees from environmentally-relevant exposures. He also studies the effects of existing and new pesticides, natural products and plant-based chemicals, and novel therapeutics on honey bees at the organismal and colony levels. … He was once a graduate student of Marla Spivak
Mike Simone-Finstrom – Battling bees: mite resistance and other traits to promote healthier honey bees
Mike Simone-Finstrom is a Research Molecular Biologist at the USDA Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, LA. He earned his PhD at University of Minnesota where he pioneered a line of research which he continues working on with Dr. Marla Spivak, regarding how and why bees collect plant resins and use them as propolis in the hive. Prior to joining the USDA, he worked with Drs. David Tarpy and Olav Rueppell in North Carolina on topics ranging from queen quality to migratory beekeeping to social immunity. More recently his research expanded to understanding impacts of viral infection and how different bee stocks or genotypes respond and defend themselves against viruses and the parasitic mites that vector them. His current work aims to understanding how all these traits work in concert together in order to promote them within the beekeeping industry and identify other management strategies to improve colony success. The overarching goal of all of his projects focuses on how honey bees can be made stronger, healthier and more productive using their own natural defenses and traits.
Katrina Klett – “Living in Uncertainty: Helping Farmers Transition to more Diversified Farming Systems”
Katrina Klett is a PhD student in the bee lab studying swarming behavior and how to incentivize farmers to adopt more diverse land use practices. She is from North Dakota and currently resides in the Twin Cities.
Marla Spivak is a MacArthur Fellow and McKnight Distinguished Professor in Entomology at the University of Minnesota. She obtained her Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of Kansas 1989 on the ecology and identification of Africanized honey bees in Costa Rica. Her research efforts at the UMN focus on protecting and enhancing the health of bees through social immunity and bee breeding. She is looking forward to retiring on New Years Eve 2024, and is confident an excellent honey bee researcher will be hired to replace her.
Dr. Mike Goblirsch is a Research Entomologist stationed at the Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Research Laboratory in Poplarville MS. His current research focuses on the use of a continuous cell line that he established from honey bee embryonic tissues to explore the effects of pathogens, such as viruses, and pesticides on honey bee health at the cellular and molecular levels to inform about adverse outcomes for honey bees from environmentally-relevant exposures. He also studies the effects of existing and new pesticides, natural products and plant-based chemicals, and novel therapeutics on honey bees at the organismal and colony levels. … He was once a graduate student of Marla Spivak
Mike Simone-Finstrom is a Research Molecular Biologist at the USDA Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, LA. He earned his PhD at University of Minnesota where he pioneered a line of research which he continues working on with Dr. Marla Spivak, regarding how and why bees collect plant resins and use them as propolis in the hive. Prior to joining the USDA, he worked with Drs. David Tarpy and Olav Rueppell in North Carolina on topics ranging from queen quality to migratory beekeeping to social immunity. More recently his research expanded to understanding impacts of viral infection and how different bee stocks or genotypes respond and defend themselves against viruses and the parasitic mites that vector them. His current work aims to understanding how all these traits work in concert together in order to promote them within the beekeeping industry and identify other management strategies to improve colony success. The overarching goal of all of his projects focuses on how honey bees can be made stronger, healthier and more productive using their own natural defenses and traits.
Katrina Klett is a PhD student in the bee lab studying swarming behavior and how to incentivize farmers to adopt more diverse land use practices. She is from North Dakota and currently resides in the Twin Cities.