People

Principal Investigator

Prof. Adam G Dolezal

Adam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  He teaches Physiology (IB 202) and Genes and Behavior (IB 432) courses in the School of Integrative Biology. He studies how pollinators, mostly focusing on honey bees, respond to the different stresses they encounter in their environment. These studies have centered heavily on the impacts of virus infection and the nutritional and chemical stresses associated with Midwestern row-crop agricultural systems.  Adam received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University, where he studied the behavioral physiology of harvester ants and honey bees; he then did postdoctoral work at Iowa State University.

adolezal@illinois.edu

Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr. Alex Payne (anpayne@illinois.edu)

Alexandria (Alex) Payne is a postdoctoral research associate in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her work broadly relates to researching bee-microbe interactions, with a special interest on honey bee-virus interactions and their impacts on the bee microbiome. Alex is a Texas native and received both her BS and PhD degrees from Texas A&M University. For her doctorate research, she studied the disease ecology of honey bees and how factors such as in-hive pests and nutrition impact host-pathogen interactions and overall bee health.

Graduate Students

Edward Hsieh (emhsieh2@illinois.edu)

Edward is currently a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he is co-advised by Adam Dolezal and May Berenbaum. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Grinnell College in 2016, where his work focused primarily on evolutionary ecology rooted in insect systems including Hawaiian damselflies and supercolonial ants. He developed an interest in honey bees while working as a technician in Amy Toth’s lab at Iowa State University, and soon transitioned to completing his master’s degree in entomology at the University of Illinois. There, he examined the effects of phytochemical supplementation on honey bee susceptibility to viral infection and is now interested in expanding upon that work by studying the broader dynamics of interaction between various honey bee health stressors. Edward has served as the Outreach Coordinator for the Entomology Graduate Student Association for several years and has racked up many hours of feeding cockroaches and holding tarantulas. In his spare time, he enjoys playing board games, wildlife photography, and buying books faster than he can read them.

Tristan Barley (tbarley2@illinois.edu)

Tristan is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Dolezal lab. He received his bachelor’s degree in environmental science and biology from Manchester University in 2018, where he conducted entomological work in assessing macroinvertebrate communities in restored wetlands. He further completed his master’s in environmental science from Miami University in 2020, investigating the effects of flower patch density on pollinator visitation. During his time at Miami, he developed a passion for native bee research and joined the Dolezal lab in 2021 to expand upon his master’s research. His current research has two main areas of focus. The first is a collaborative, DoE-funded project exploring co-locating pollinator habitat with solar energy infrastructure, specifically investigating the economic, performance, and ecological impacts of this pairing of conservation and energy generation. His other research project investigates the potential effects of competition between native bees and managed honey bee colonies in prairies, with implications for native bee conservation efforts and honey bee management. Outside of research, he serves as a Science Policy Fellow through ESA, advocating for entomological research funding at the federal level. Additionally, he serves as the ESA North Central Branch Student Affairs Committee Chair-Elect, where he aims to further student engagement with entomological policy advocacy.

Sreelakshmi Suresh (ssuresh@illinois.edu)

Sreelakshmi is currently a technician in the Dolezal lab, but will begin as an MS student in Fall 2021. They started research in the Reed Johnson lab at the Ohio State University in 2015, studying the foraging preferences of honey bees using digital dance analysis and also working as a curatorial assistant in the OSU Herbarium. In 2017, they graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Evolution and Ecology, with a minor in French. Sreelakshmi moved to Fujisawa, Japan for 1.5 years post-graduation, where they taught English. In 2019, they moved back to the US to become the lab manager for Dr. Johnson. Sreelakshmi moved to Urbana-Champaign in 2020, and they are anticipating starting their Master’s program in 2021. Sreelakshmi’s research interests include learning more about honey bees’ foraging preferences and bee behavior. They have had experience with in-vitro rearing of bees, queen rearing, pesticide toxicity, varroa mite treatments, floral preference in honey bees, and many other related topics.

Vincent Prayugo (prayugo2@illinois.edu)

Vincent Prayugo is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his bachelor’s degree in molecular & cellular biology and chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2021. Vincent’s current research focuses on the effects of various honey bee stressors on honey bee physiology.

Sam Mowery (smowery2@illinois.edu)

Samantha (Sam) Mowery is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and co-advised by Dr. May Berenbaum and Dr. Adam Dolezal. Sam received her bachelor’s degree in plant biology at North Carolina State University in December 2020. While at NC State, Sam worked in plant pathology, specifically with plant-parasitic nematodes and their impacts on various host plants. In 2021, Sam worked as a laboratory technician in the lab of Dr. Adrianne Gorny, focusing on management strategies for root-knot nematodes in sweet potato production systems. Sam’s current research focuses on various aspects of honey bee-derived propolis – including chemical composition, its effects on honey bee physiology, and honey bee resin foraging behavior. 

Staff

Elena Gratton (elenamg@illinois.edu)

Elena is the Dolezal lab manager. She finished her Master’s in Entomology at Penn State in May of 2023 and joined the Dolezal lab in June of 2023. Elena’s Master’s focused on bumble bee disease and community ecology. She completed her undergraduate degree at Colorado State where she developed an interest in Science communication and Conservation biology. She is very excited to be working with all the incredible researchers in the Dolezal lab. In her free time, you can find her cooking, knitting, or playing with her dog, Toast.

Rachel Manweiler (revman@illinois.edu)

Brodie Dunn (lbdunn2@illinois.edu)

Brodie Dunn coordinates statewide pollinator programming for Illinois Extension and works in close cooperation with University of Illinois faculty researchers to improve Extension programming. He has two degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: a BA in Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability and an MS in Crop Science. His master’s research focused on the impacts of cover crops on insect and bird communities in Illinois soybeans. Prior to graduate school he worked in natural area restoration and in crop pest research. In his free time, he enjoys writing, crafts, and birding with friends.

Lily Reynolds (lilreyn1212@gmail.com)

Liliana (Lily) Reynolds is currently a technician in the Dolezal Lab. She graduated with her bachelor’s in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2023. During her undergraduate career, she began collaborating with Ph.D. Candidate Tristan Barley with his research on the co-location of prairie habitats and solar energy infrastructure, and his research on competition between native wild bees and honey bees in remnant prairie systems. She has continued to work on these projects as well as helping out wherever she can in the lab! Her research interests include exploring how floral communities, as well as bee assemblages, differ along urban gradients, as well as how these floral communities can act as potential hubs for pathogens in the environment.

Undergraduates

Andee Erickson (andreae3@illinois.edu)

Andee is currently an undergraduate student in the Dolezal Lab (class of 2026) who is majoring in IB and planning to double minor in Environmental Sciences (ESE) and Ecology-Conservation. Her current lab mentors are Elena Gratton and Tristan Barely. She hopes to soon pursue research related to mosquito insecticides and how they can be adapted to neighborhood application without harming bee populations.

Maddie Prideaux

Former Lab Members

Dr. Ashley St. Clair

Ashley St. Clair is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she studies honey bee health in agroecosystems by investigating the interactive effects of insecticide and nutritional stress on honey bee queens and her attendants. By studying how these stressors interact to affect worker bees, worker-queen care interactions, and queen health she hopes to elucidate the mechanism by which queens are exposed to environmental stressors, which can inform conservation decisions for honey bee management in agricultural systems as well as support stress tolerant bee strains. Ashley received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University where she studied wild bee and honey bee response to crop production, farm diversity, and native habitat in an agricultural landscape. Ashley received her Bachelors in Biology from Murray State University.

Lincoln Taylor

Lincoln is currently a Master’s student in the Dolezal lab. He graduated in 2020 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with the highest distinction with a bachelor’s degree in integrative biology. Lincoln started researching honey bees during his undergraduate; he worked in Gene Robinson’s lab before moving to the Dolezal lab to complete his senior thesis, which investigated the effects of Israeli acute paralysis virus on honey bee nursing behavior. Currently, Lincoln is building off of the project he started during his undergrad, further exploring the relationship between honey bee behavior and bee viruses. Additionally, his research interests include disease ecology and general behavioral host-pathogen interactions.

Benjamin Chiavini

Ben is currently a Master’s student in the Dolezal Lab. He graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with distinction in a bachelor’s of science degree in the entomology program. During his undergraduate research in Dr. Alexandra Harmon-Threatt’s lab, he worked primarily with neonicotinoids’ effects on plant-pollinator interactions at Phillips Tract, found just outside of Champaign, IL. He was able to present this research in the 2019 Entomological Society of America (ESA) Conference. He now looks to delve into Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) and its effects on honeybee behaviors towards small hive beetles and one another.

Dr. Gyan Harwood

Gyan Harwood was postdoctoral scholar from 2019-2022. He is now a scientist at Corteva Agriscience.

Jacob Torres

Jacob is a Ph.D. Graduate student in the Dolezal lab. He began his Ph.D. in August 2018 after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in biology from Augustana College and a masters degree in biology from Western Illinois University. Jacob has worked on a number of insect systems including the emerald ash borer, aquatic macroinvertebrates, saturniid moths, tiger beetles, and pollinators with a focus on bees (Native bees and honey bees). His research interests are focused on pollinator health and the environmental factors that impact pollinators, insect microbiomes, insect conservation, landscape ecology, and urban ecology.

Jacob was awarded the GAANN Fellowship for graduate students with excellent academic records for the 2018-2019 school year and was ranked as “Excellent” by the students in his class sections for the Fall semester in 2018. Early into the fall semester (2018) Jacob was also elected to serve as a senator representing the Graduate College in the Illinois Student Government as well as for the Senate of the Urbana-Champaign Campus. On his free-time Jacob enjoys spending time with his wife Kendall, who is also a bee biologist, and their two miniature schnauzers Delilah and Opal.

Nathan Beach

Nathan is the manager of the Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Nathan joined the University as a research technician for Dr. Gene Robinson in 2017. Prior to that he worked as a research technician and beekeeper for Dr. Keith Delaplane and Jennifer Berry at the University of Georgia. He has been fascinated with honey bees for as long as he can remember and has been a beekeeper since 2006. He’s thrilled for the opportunity to support the groundbreaking honey bee research taking place at the University and enjoys sharing his knowledge with others and learning from fellow beekeepers and researchers.

Audrey Wong

Audrey is currently an undergraduate student in the Dolezal lab (Class of 2023) who is majoring in IB, minoring in secondary education. Her main lab mentors are Ashley St. Clair and Alex Payne. Audrey’s research interests include learning how various protein:lipid ratios affect bee physiology as well as bee resistance to pesticides and viruses, in hopes of supporting stress tolerant bee strains.

Madeleine Shapiro

Madeleine (Linnie) is currently an undergraduate researcher in the Dolezal lab. She is a senior majoring in Integrative Biology and Economics. Her research focuses on investigating the effects of pesticide exposure on queen bee reproduction and physiology.

Brittney Bailey

Bridget Dwyer

Hannah Salzberg

Bella Keys