Postdoctoral Fellowship: PRFB: Mapping the Bumblebee Social Network Across Levels of Organization
This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2025. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to biology in innovative ways. Effective information processing is crucial for species to respond appropriately to their environment, particularly in social species like humans that integrate a wide range of individual experiences into collective responses. Theoretical models that are grounded in real world observations are needed to explain and predict patterns of social communication across species. This research addresses this need by using the common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) to trace the flow of nutritional information throughout the colony. Bumblebee colonies are an optimal model to test key hypotheses in social communication due to their complex social behaviors and ease with which they can be manipulated for study. This research will leverage this model, integrating methods in behavioral ecology and deep-le
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT