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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
I am interested in social insect reproduction and immunity. At the moment I am working on projects that
study the effects of seminal fluid on sperm survival. I am also responsible for running the CIBER honeybee lab.
I am interested in proteomics and functional analysis of sperm, seminal and spermathecal fluids of honeybees.
In a broader sense, I am also interested in the application of mass spectrometry for polypeptide analysis,
protein characterisation and bioinformatics.
Expertise:
Proteomics, Protein chemistry, Protein expression, Bioinformatics
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
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.
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.
My research focuses in the study of the evolutionary ecology of sexual interactions. I am interested
in post-copulatory sexual selection, the evolution of female multiple mating, sexual conflict over
mating rates and paternity outcomes, maternal and paternal effects, and the estimation of
genetic variation in fitness-related traits.
Expertise:
Evolutionary biology, Post-copulatory sexual selection, Sexual conflict.
My research focuses on the effect of different chemicals on bee immunity and fertility.
I am interested in bee breeding as a possibility to combat bee pests and diseases. My goal is to
better understand the molecular mechanism of bee resistance.
Expertise:
Queen breeding, Bee parasites, Artificial feeding, Insect pest management
Contact me:
sakhawat_sau@yahoo.com
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.
I am investigating the metabolic functions and respiratory capacity of honeybee sperm to understand
the cellular energetics underpinning sperm survival, competition and storage.
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.
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
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
Maja Babis
Name:
Maja Babis
Function:
Masters student
Project description:
I am interested in the effects of ejaculates and ejaculate components on the physiology and behavior of a honeybee queens.
To do this I use gaschromatography (GC-MS) to analyse changes in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles between virgin and inseminated honeybee queens.
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.
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.
I study the effect of secretions of the queens' reproductive tract on sperm function
in the honeybee Apis mellifera. I use techniques such as artificial insemination and dissection
to obtain secretions from the lateral oviducts and the spermatheca. I expose sperm to these
secretions and measure whether they have an effect on sperm viability.
I study the effects of immune challenges on drones to determine whether
a trade off exists between energy expended in mounting an immune response and maintenance of sperm
quality. I use techniques such as the encapsulation response, phenoloxidase activity and
sperm oxygen consumption to measure these factors.
I study the question whether electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones can affect male fertility
in honeybees. To do this I expose developing drones to mobile phones and test whether
their presence reduces the sperm number or viability in mature males.
In a collaboration with SymbioticA, I am exploring the potential to use the trailing behaviours
of ants and other insects as a medium for drawing. By utilising pheromones, I want to communicate
with ants in collaborative drawing performances that showcase their emergent organisational abilities.
1. What are the cultural and aesthetic relationships between human hair and bees? Both are intimately
related to sexuality and evolutionary aesthetics. With the support of CIBER this project explores
the possibilities for re-homing honeybees offered by human hair through the construction of a series
of forms from human hair for bees to live in.
Expertise:
Biological Art, Cultural & feminist theory, Bioethics
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
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.
I am interested in the study of immunocompetence in male honeybees to test whether there is a
trade off between drone immunity and fertility. To do this I
perform field based experiments and measure bee immunity using lab based techniques such as encapsulation response
and the activity of the immune protein phenoloxidase.
My work is done in close collaboration with Jahmila Partenay.
Expertise:
Encapsulation response, honeybee immunity, honeybee field work
Contact me:
20502407@student.uwa.edu.au
Ben Liebenberg
Name:
Ben Liebenberg
Function:
Apiarist
Project description:
I design and build equipment to use in experiments and breed and maintain bees to assist scientist and artists with
their projects. My passion is bees and to find practical and natural ways to manage parasites and diseases.
Expertise:
Beekeeping at a commercial level, skilled with both European and South African honey bees,
honey production, queen and drone rearing, construction of specialist beekeeping equipment.
Contact me:
ben.liebenberg[at]gmail.com
David Sherwood
Name:
David Sherwood
Function:
Advanced Science Student
Project description:
I use nanotechnologies to investigate possibilities to control Varroa mite infestations in honeybees. Furthermore, I am interested to develop
nanotechnological approaches to understand sperm behavior and male fertility. My work is done in collaboration with
Iyer Swaminathan
Expertise:
Nanoparticle synthesis
Contact me:
20502597[at]@student.uwa.edu.au
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
I am working on a documentary about honeybees.
A crucial part of the movie aims to to provide fascinating visual insights
into the life of a honeybee colony. I am currently developing the use of slow motion movie cameras for this purpose but
I am facing the challenge of using honeybees as actors!
Expertise:
Screenplay, Dramaturgy, High speed and macro filming, Digital postproduction
Boris Baer (Director)
Tiffane Bates (Beeyard Manager)
A. Harvey Millar
Leigh W. Simmons
Paul Schmid-Hempel
Susanne den Boer
Barbara Baer-Imhoof
Reza Zareie
Lori Lach
Tamara Hartke
Ryan Dosselli
Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez
Mohammed Sakhawat Hossain
Yan Peng
Ellen Paynter
Marlene Stürup
Jason Collins
Alastair Boyd
Maja Babis
Ghislaine Small
Kristiina Tabur
Kevin Hardi
Jahmila Parthenay
Koh Xue Ni
Loren Kronemyer
Tarsh Bates
Susan Hauri-Downing
Madlen Kratz
Charlene Foo
Ben Liebenberg
David Sherwood
John Davies
Rob Manning
Markus Imhoof
