CIBER Team Members

Details of former group members can be found here.

Boris Baer (Director)

Name:

Boris Baer (See CV)

Function:

CIBER Director

Board member:


RIRDC Honeybee Advisory Committee
Swiss Australian Academic Network
Asian Honeybee Transition to Management Scientific Advisory group

Project description:

I am interested in the study of evolutionary processes such as sexual selection or immune response on the molecular/protein scale. To do this I use several social insects as model species and biochemical technologies such as proteomics.

Expertise:

Sociobiology, Evolutionary biology, Sexual selection,Proteomics

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

 boris.baer[at]uwa.edu.au

Personal Website:

Click here

Tiffane Bates (Beeyard Manager)

Name:

Tiffane Bates

Function:

Beeyard manager

Project description:

I am interested in improving the interaction between science and honeybee related industries. My particular passion is in bee breeding and disease management. As apiary manager I am responsible for maintenance and breeding of our honeybee colonies to support the myriad experiments being undertaken by our team.

Expertise:

Honeybee breeding, Beekeeping, Artificial insemination, Queen and drone rearing, Varroa mite

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

tiffbee[at]hotmail.com

Personal Website:

Click here

Barbara Baer-Imhoof

Name:

Barbara Baer-Imhoof

Function:

Researcher, Lab manager

Project description:

I am interested in social insect reproduction and immunity and responsible for running the CIBER honeybee lab. I have also worked on the realisation of the movie "More than Honey" and I am currently running the More than Honey Blog.

Expertise:

Sperm viability,Immunity,Parasitism

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

barbara.baer[at]uwa.edu.au

A. Harvey Millar

Name:

A. Harvey Millar

Function:

Researcher

Project description:

My research focuses on proteomics and the use of mass spectrometry to understand metabolic networks in a range of species. In CIBER I provide the background and experimental design for honeybee proteomic projects and work to increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that influence reproductive success and disease resistance.

Expertise:

Proteomics, Mass spectrometry, Functional genomics

Publications:

Publications

Contact me:

harvey.millar[at]uwa.edu.au

Personal Website:

Click here

Leigh W. Simmons

Name:

Leigh W. Simmons

Function:

Researcher

Project description:

My research focuses on how variation in reproductive success influences the evolution of behaviour, morphology, and physiology. I am particularly interested in life-history trade-offs between male fertility and immunity, and how female mating behaviour promotes fitness through mechanisms of sperm competition and selective sperm use.

Expertise:

Behavioural ecology, Quantitative genetics, Ecological immunology, Sperm competition

Publications:

Publications

Contact me:

leigh.simmons[at]uwa.edu.au

Personal Website:

Click here

Paul Schmid-Hempel

Name:

Paul Schmid-Hempel (See CV)

Function:

UWA Visiting Professor

Project description:

My research interests focus on the coevolution and ecology of host-parasite interactions. In particular, I am interested to understand strategies of host defences and the dynamics of infectious diseases in social insects.

Expertise:

Behavioural ecology, Parasites, Ecological immunology, Bee parasites, Genomics

Publications:

Publications

Contact me:

paul.schmid-hempel[at]env.ethz.ch

Personal Website:

Click here

Susanne den Boer

Name:

Susanne den Boer (Download CV)

Function:

Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow

Project description:

I am interested in sexual selection and social insect mating biology and focus mainly on post-copulatory processes such as sperm competition and cryptic female choice, using honeybees and leafcutter ants as model species. Currently, I use techniques such as artificial insemination, fluorescence microscopy and proteomics to examine the interactions between male and female reproductive fluids and sperm.

Expertise:

Evolutionary biology, Sexual selection, Sperm competition, Cryptic female choice, Social insect biology

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

susanne.denboer[at]uwa.edu.au

Personal Website:

Click here

Tamara Hartke

Name:

Tamara Hartke

Function:

Sir Keith Murdoch Fellow

Project description:

In spite of their similar social structure, the termites have evolved very different dynamics between male and female reproductives compared to the ants and bees. I will be utilizing techniques developed at CIBER to study reproductive characteristics of termite queens and kings over their lifetimes, which will result in a broader understanding of the evolution of mating systems and societies.

Expertise:

Evolutionary biology, Reproductive ecology, Termites

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

trhartke[at]gmail.com

Mat Welch

Name:

Mat Welch

Function:

SIEF Fellow

Project description:

Epigenetic modifications can underpin the temporal and spatial interpretation of complex genomes to produce different phenotypes. In the honeybee (Apis mellifera), fertilised eggs develop into either workers or queens. Recent findings suggest that DNA methylation may play a role in the selection between worker and queen developmental trajectories. I am using next generation sequencing (NGS) to examine changes in the epigenome that occur throughout honeybee development and caste selection.

Expertise:

Molecular Biology, Epigenetics, Next generation sequencing

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

Mat.welch[at]uwa.edu.au

Julia Grassl

Name:

Julia Grassl

Function:

Postdoctoral Researcher

Project description:

I analyse protein samples of honeybees and other social insects on protein gels and by using a variety of different mass spectrometers. I specialize in quantitative proteomics and mass spectrometry, and apply this to identify immunopeptides in the haemolymph and seminal fluid of honeybees.

Expertise:

Proteomics, Mass Spectrometry, Peptidomics, SDS PAGE gel, DIGE

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

Julia.Grassel[at]uwa.edu.au

Ryan Dosselli

Name:

Ryan Dosselli

Function:

Postdoctoral Fellow

Project description:

I am interested to understand how the honeybee immune system operates on the molecular level. To do this I use proteomics as well as field-based experiments. I am specifically interested to understand how differences in immune proteins between individuals or colonies translates into differences in parasite resistance.

Expertise:

Proteomics, Immunopetides, Evolutionary Biology,

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

ryan.dosselli[at]gmail.com

Lori Lach

Name:

Lori Lach

Function:

Postdoctoral Researcher

Project description:

I am interested in how human-associated environmental changes such as habitat fragmentation, climate change, and introduced species affect insect-plant interactions, especially pollination. I am currently investigating how one of the most common honeybee diseases in the world affects the ability of bees to pollinate. I am also investigating the distribution of native and honey bees in urban bushland fragments and the role each has in pollinating native and non-native plants.

Expertise:

Community ecology, Pollination, Biological invasions, Insect-Plant interactions

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

lori.lach@uwa.edu.au

Yan Peng

Name:

Yan Peng

Function:

PhD student

Project description:


I investigate whether there are any microorganisms transmitted from the male to the female as part of the ejaculate. I want to use proteomics to identify these potential sexually transmitted diseases and to perform field experiments afterwards to test whether a vertical transmission transfer really occurs in the bees.

Expertise:

Sexually transmitted diseases, Microsporidiums, Queen rearing, Fluorescence microscopy

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

20729847@student.uwa.edu.au

Ellen Paynter

Name:

Ellen Paynter

Function:

PhD student

Project description:

I am investigating the metabolic functions and respiratory capacity of honeybee sperm to understand the cellular energetics underpinning sperm survival, competition and storage.

Expertise:

Micro-respiratory measurements, Proteomics, Metabolite analysis, Flow cytometry

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

paynte01[at]student.uwa.edu.au

Marlene Stürup

Name:

Marlene Stürup

Function:

External PhD student

Project description:

My research is focused on male reproductive success where I look at postcopulatory sexual selection in the form of variation in sperm storage, fertilization probability and offspring viability in multiply mated social insects such as honeybees and leaf cutting ants.

Expertise:

Artificial insemination, Sperm viability, Genetics

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

msturup[at]bio.ku.dk

Personal Website:

Click here

Jason Collins

Name:

Jason Collins

Function:

PhD Student

Project description:

I am interested whether Darwinian evolutionary dynamics in human populations played a role in the emergence of today's economic systems. To do this I use modelling approaches in combination with data available on human income, assets and fertility around the onset of industrialisation, when several human populations left the Malthusian trap.

Expertise:

Economics, Modelling, Mathusian trap, Population biology

Publications:

Click here

Contact me:

jason.collins@graduate.uwa.edu.au

Personal Website:

Click here

Alastair Boyd

Name:

Alastair Boyd

Function:

PhD Student

Project description:

I am interested in the identification and characterisation of an iron based magnetoreceptors in higher animals in an effort to understand homing behaviour. Using the honeybee as a model system, I will use a low to high resolution approach, using techniques such as ICP-AES iron analysis, SQUID magnetometry, magnetic resonance imaging, light microscopy, confocal microscopy and electron microscopy in order to locate cells potentially responsible for the detection of the Earth’s magnetic field. My work is done in collaboration with Jeremy Shaw

Expertise:

Biomineralisation, Magnetoreception, Electron microscopy, Cryo preparation

Contact me:

boyda01[at]student.uwa.edu.au

Ghislaine Small

Name:

Ghislaine Small

Function:

PhD Student

Project description:

I am interested in the identification of cellulose-degrading bacteria in termite guts. There is a great interest in this field currently due to its potential application in the production of cleaner, renewable sources of energy, such as biofuels.To do this, I culture the gut bacteria of two local termite species and use metagenomics to sequence the microbial population in the gut, in the hopes of finding novel cellulase genes.

Expertise:

Microbiology, Genetics, Sequencing, Metagenomics, Termites

Contact me:

20514681[at]student.uwa.edu.au

Kristiina Tabur

Name:

Kristiina Tabur

Function:

Masters student

Project description:

I am interested in developing a technique to observe sperm cells on freshly laid honeybee eggs. With this technique I will be able to study queen fertility by understanding the effects of, for example, queen age and male quality on the number of eggs used for each egg fertilization.

Expertise:

Honeybee biology, fluorescence microscopy, honeybee fieldwork

Contact me:

kristiinatabur[at]yahoo.com

Mark Rhodes

Name:

Mark Rhodes

Function:

Honours Student

Project description:

As a commercial beekeeper, I am interested in honeybee breeding and queen rearing. Of particular interest is the use of instrumental insemination to accelerate improvement in economically significant genetic traits, especially in disease tolerance. I use artificial insemination techniques to generate new bee genotypes, for example by increasing genetic variability in managed stock and to test these bees performance under commercial conditions.

Expertise:

Bee keeping, bee breeding, artificial insemination

Contact me:

info@shunnerfellhoney.com.au

Personal Website:

(click here)

Andrew Carson

Name:

Andrew Carson

Function:

Honours Student

Project description:

I am interested whether there are differences in immunity or fertility between feral and managed honeybees. To do this I conduct experiments using the CIBER bee yards and study the behaviour of workers and males in the field. My work could be important to guide future bee breeding.

Expertise:

Feral bees, Field based honeybee experiments, Immunity, Sperm viability

Contact me:

20565064[at]student.uwa.edu.au

Pauline Sell

Name:

Pauline Sell

Function:

German Exchange student

Project description:

Termites have an extremely high degree of developmental plasticity and an individual has the potential to change its caste during its lifetime, depending on the environment within the colony. I am using RNAi to explore how epigenetics, the differential regulation of particular parts of an individual's genome, operates in termites and how genes influence a termite's developmental fate.

Expertise:

Termite Biology, Epigenetics, Termite field work

Contact me:


marie.p.sell[at]gmail.com

Adelaide Cohan

Name:

Adelaide Cohalan

Function:

Masters Student

Project description:

My project involves exploring the subjective reality of the honeybee from an artistic perspective. I am interested in attempting to communicate with honeybees and exploring the barriers and challenges of making meaningful exchanges across species boundaries. To do this I offer honeybee workers up to 100 honey bait stations that differ in colour and use photographs to document their choice and their response when I start to manipulate he bait stations. This project is run in collaboration with SymbioticA

Expertise:

Interspecies collaboration in art, Painting, Drawing

Contact me:


21089917[at]student.uwa.edu.au

Madlen Kratz

Name:

Madlen Kratz

Function:

Science student

Project description:

I investigate the effect of bee diseases on pollination behaviour. To do this, I adopted a sensor- tagging system which monitors the bees’ activity over their lifespan. This technique provides me with data on the foraging behavior of individual bees and I will be able to compare differences in infected and non-infected bees. My work is done in collaboration with Lori Larch.

Expertise:

Biochemistry, Conservation Biology, Honeybee tagging

Contact me:

20917495@student.uwa.edu.au

Briana Ezray

Name:

Briana Ezray

Function:

Undergraduate Research Fellow

Project description:

I am interesting to develop a novel technique that allows the use of different fluorescence dyes to distinguish sperm from different honeybee males. I am specifically interested whether queens use sperm from a single or several males to fertilise a specific egg and hence whetehr sperm competition occurs during egg fertilisation in honeybees.

Expertise:

Fluorescence Microscopy, Sexual selection, Sperm competition, Artificial insemination

Contact me:

Briana Ezray 21260183[at]student.uwa.edu.au

Devon Ward

Name:

Devon Ward

Function:

Graphical Designer

Project description:

My work is focused on public engagement with honeybees. I am also interested in alternative hive architecture and the aesthetics of urban beekeeping. As part of my work I design logos, posters and labels for the CIBER group. To see some of my work click here. My projects are run in collaboration with Symbiotica

Expertise:

Graphic Design, information design, illustration, photography, honeybee fieldwork

Contact me:

devon[at]devonwarddesign.com

Personal Website:


(Design Website)
(Personal Website)

Nigel Helyer

Name:

Nigel Helyer

Function:

Artist in Residence

Project description:

I am interested to study to understand honeybees a little architects, especially the relationship between human and insect building and the potential to hybridise and/or restructure bee building behaviour. My aim is to make bees build novel designs and to re-create or modify human designed structures.

Expertise:

I am an independent sculptor and sound-artist and the director of a small multidisciplinary team Sonic Objects; Sonic Architecture

Contact me:

sonique1[at]me.com

Personal Website:

(click here)

John Davies

Name:

John Davies

Function:

Honeybee industry representative

Project description:

I coordinate the Western Australian Bee-breeding Program known as Better Bees that aims to maintain high quality bees for the Western Australian beekeeping industry. In an annual breeding program on Rottnest Island we ensure the successful continuation of our 24 lines of honey bees. Honeybees from these lineages are used for scientific experiments running at CIBER.

Expertise:

I am a commercial apiarist operating 800 honeybee colonies. I have 35 years of experience in bee breeding, industry knowledge and involvement

Contact me:

jcsbdavies[at]westnet.com.au

Rob Manning

Name:

Rob Manning

Function:

Research Officer, Department of Agriculture and Food

Project description:

I am performing research to understand honeybee nutrition in order to improve beekeeping. I maintain close links to the Australian bee industry and I am involved in collaborative research between CIBER and the Department of Agriculture and Food on honeybee disease

Publications:

Click here

Expertise:

Artificial feeding, Bee keeping, Hygienic behavior, Pollination

Contact me:

rob.manning[at]agric.wa.gov.au

Markus Imhoof

Name:

Markus Imhoof

Function:

Movie Director

Project description:

I directed a documentary about honeybees with the title "More than Honey" The movie provides fascinating visual insights into the life of a honeybee colony. The movie is currently shown in movie theatres and at movie festivals around the world.

Expertise:

Screenplay, Dramaturgy, High speed and macro filming, Digital postproduction

Previous films:

Click here

Contact me:

mail[at]markus-imhoof.ch

Personal Website:

Click here

Susan Hauri-Downing

Name:

Susan Hauri-Downing

Function:

External Associate

Project description:

I am interested in combining the different perspectives of art and science. To do this, I explore interactions between humans and both native bees as well as feral honeybees, and study the ecological importance of that relationship as well as the places where such interactions occur.

Expertise:

Ecological art, Cross cultural and interspecies relationships

Contact me:

nasusdow[at]gmx.net

Personal Website:

(click here)

Collaborating Partners