Dr. Harmon-Threatt sets up emergence tents with the lab.
Alexandra Harmon-Threatt, Ph.D.
Dr. Harmon-Threatt is broadly interested in asking ecological questions with conservation implications. This has included questions such as: Do the breeding systems of invasive plants differ from close native relatives? Do pollinators prefer higher quality plant resources regardless of origin? How do invasive plants set seed? Do bees make preference decisions based on nutrition? This has included assessing the effects of invasive plant species on preference, nutritional analysis of plants
Listen to an interview with Dr. H-T here.
Graduate Students
Jon Tetlie
Jon joined the lab in the summer of 2017 and is working on a project focused on the behavior of female ground-nesting bees particularly in regard to agricultural neonicotinoid input residues found in the soil of both agricultural fields and bordering natural habitats.
Annaliese Wargin
Annaliese joined the lab in fall 2020. She received her bachelor’s degree in entomology with a minor in comparative literature from UC Davis. She is interested in the ecology of pollinators in restored landscapes, species interactions, and insect behavioral responses to abiotic change.
Adrien Seabloom
Prior to joining the HT lab, Adrien worked on a few different conservation-based species diversity surveys for the Illinois Audubon Society while earning his associate and then bachelor’s degrees. Once he completes his PhD, he hopes to be a professor at a leading research institution where he can continue working on his research and teaching the next generation of scientists–imparting his excitement for conservation and learning. Adrien is interested in the affects agricultural practices have on neighboring prairie and the ground nesting bees that live there. Outside of lab, he spends his free time drawing, riding his horse, and hanging out with his cats.
Timo Wayman
Timo joined the lab in the fall of 2023. They are interested in insect ecology and conservation. Their master’s project is an assessment of bee hotels as conservation tools, investigating invasive and parasitic insects that can nest in them.
Undergraduates take soil cores from the Phillips Tract prairie restoration, July 2022
Undergraduates
Jessamine Britt
Jessamine joined the HT lab in summer of 2023. She is scheduled to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology in 2025. Her interests focus on ecology and conservation. Outside of the HT lab, Jessamine is a proud member of the Marching Illini. She researches the role grasses play in prairie ecosystems alongside her undergraduate peers.
Jacob Burns
Jake is scheduled to graduate in December 2024 in NRES with a concentration in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. He began working with the Harmon-Threatt Lab in Summer 2023. He researches the role grasses play in prairie ecosystems alongside his undergraduate peers. He hopes to continue learning about ecology, conservation, and invasive species through a career in research.
Sophia Gardner
Sophia’s research focuses on the plant ecology of prairie ecosystems, and specifically how soil organisms interact with grasses.
Jenaya Wilder
Sarah Rodriguez