Olivia Bernauer, PhD

PhD position posting: "Reproductive division of labor without castes in simple social Hymenoptera"

PhD position posting: "Reproductive division of labor without castes in simple social Hymenoptera" qualifications and contact details.

PhD opportunity in Prague, Czech Republic, to study reproductive skew in Xylocopine bees!

whoa, so fascinating!

Orleans and Kinsley standing next to their research poster on Eau Claire bumble bees

Laura presenting her research talk

Jensen presenting her research talk

All five of us exploring Portland on day 1!

Bernauer lab takes on #entsoc25 in Portland! Sharing all our latest work on bumblebees and cranberry pollination! 🐝

For #EntSoc2025 folks interested in insect responses to extreme weather, Neal Williams and I are hosting a session, "Hot Bees" in D133/134. We'll focus the methods and tools we can use to understand how heat waves impact wild pollinators across ecological scales. Join us! 🌡️🐝💨🌼

Photo of a plant covered in small yellow flowers with a red band in the middle. The top two petals are shaped like boomerangs

Photo of a small yellow flower with a red band in the middle and white centre. The top two petals are shaped like boomerangs

Stylidium eriopodum - commonly called the Boomerang Triggerplant

Like all Triggerplants, this plant has a floral column on a sensitive trigger which reacts to the flower being touched and coats any visiting #pollinators in pollen. Endemic to WA

#ozflora #wildoz #nativeplants #inaturalist #nature

Check out our latest publication on volatile-mediated interactions between plants and insect herbivores, pollinators, and natural enemies!! Here, we review the literature on volatile multifunctionality and propose new ideas for sustainable insect management.

Making “scents” of how plant volatiles influence agriculturally important insects: a review Abstract. Plants emit hundreds, if not thousands, of different volatile chemical compounds, although the function of most individual volatiles remains elus

Excited to share my latest publication with @entothompson.bsky.social and Emily Russvage. Here, we reviewed how plants leverage multifunctional volatiles to mediate plant-insect interactions simultaneously with multiple insect groups in agroecosystems. Check it out! 🌿🐛🐝🐞

doi.org/10.1093/ee/n...

Which bumble bees are in Eau Claire? Hello! Kinsley and Orlean here, We are the bumble bee surveying team here with updates about how our research went over the summer in Eau Claire, WI. For starters, the weather over summer was very int...

Curious about the current happenings in the Bernauer Pollinator Conservation lab? Check out our latest blog post by UW-EC undergraduate researchers on Which bumble bees are in Eau Claire? 🐝
www.oliviabernauer.com/post/which-b...

The new #NSF #GRFP application now excludes 1000’s of students, including those who were told they could apply this year, or who planned to apply next year.

We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.

The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

Can ChatGPT help science writers?

Tl;dr = No.

www.science.org/content/blog...

Congrats!! 🥳

I would like to take this opportunity to remember Melissa Hortman, a serving Democratic politician assasinated by a right-winger.

AMNH is hiring a #curator! We are searching for an “Assistant Curator in #Climate #Physics: #Atmosphere or #Ocean”! Join us! careers.amnh.org/postings/4579 #academicjobs #tenuretrack

Know & Exercise Your Rights Flyer provided by the Illinois Immigration Information Hub. 1. Remain Calm. 2. You have the right to deny entry without a valid warrant. 3. You have the right to remain silent. 4. You have the right to speak with an attorney. 5. You have the right to not sign anything. For more information, head to: https://www.illinoisimmigrationinfo.org/

Know & Exercise Your Rights Flyer provided by the Illinois Immigration Information Hub. For more information, head to: https://www.illinoisimmigrationinfo.org/

Know your rights, Illinois.

Stay safe and stay informed.

Moth pupa inside tomatillo

Tomatillo with insect feeding damage

Tomatillo with insect feeding damage

Tomatillo husk with feeding damage

Hey #ento folk- any ideas on what might be eating these tomatillos? Eau Claire, WI, found late August 2025. Thanks in advance!

Global synthesis of apple pollination research highlights general pollen limitation and positive contributions of wild bees compared to honeybees Our study highlights that pollen limitation is common in this global crop. While managed honeybees are dominant pollinators, a diverse community of wild bees contributes significantly to apple pollin...

Fresh global-analysis admirably lead by @eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social (+ @oliviabernauer.bsky.social PhD data) indicates native bee pollination services leads to higher-quality apples = improved weight & seed set.

How do you like them apples? 🍎

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A large black bug with black-spotted brown wings held in my fingers

Closeup of the underside of the bug showing its legs and mouthparts

Closeup of the underside of the bug showing its black legs and mouthparts, a full ventral shot

The squashed bug showing beautiful brown forewings with intricate patterns, and striking red inner hindwings.

Shocked and sad and amazed to see my first live spotted lanternfly in our own backyard (Chicago). Gorgeous animal—I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful it was. 🥲 Squashed and reported on @inaturalist.bsky.social

Do you like safe food? Agricultural innovations? Informed farmers?

Reminder to voice your opinion about the restructuring of the USDA to the USDA and to your elected officials if you have not yet done so.

www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

Use and adapt our drafted comment below or write your own! I strongly oppose the proposed repeal of the Endangerment Finding. The science is clear: greenhouse gases unequivocally harm our health and our environment. Weakening or repealing the Endangerment Finding will make it harder, and costlier to protect our communities from pollution and from the effects of climate change. Optional: I care about this issue because [insert your personal reasoning here -e.g. "my father has COPD," "I recently lost my home to a devastating hurricane"] I urge you to keep the Endangerment Finding in place and to apply science to protect our health and our environment for generations to come. ****Remember, if you want to cite research to upload the paper as a file.****

🚨ACTION OF THE DAY🚨
@standupforscience.bsky.social

Day 6! Leave a public comment opposing the repeal of the EPA Endangerment Finding.

✍️ Comment here: www.regulations.gov/commenton/EP...

🧠 Learn more here: www.cnn.com/2025/08/03/p...

🌿 Here is a script (copy and paste alt text for ease!)
#31days

absolutely wild to think about how much better off we'd be if we just believed girls and women

Monarch on swamp milkweed

Colors of summer

Everybody working on social insects: the IUSSI has a fancy new website and they're building a map of all the labs that focus on social insects. Is this you? Add yourself to the map:

www.socialinsects.org/map

IUSSI = International Union for the Study of Social Insects

iNaturalist accelerates biodiversity research Abstract. Participatory citizen science is expanding, with iNaturalist emerging as one of the most widely used platforms globally. However, its application

I think I'll always have a soft spot for cool citizen science, not only because I love contributing to iNaturalist, but because my master's research involved conducting citizen science. Go document your world! 🦦🌾🪸🪰🦜

iNaturalist accelerates biodiversity research url: academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

Inside of the male karner blue butterfly’s wings

Karner blue butterfly perched on a finger

Copper butterfly on butterfly weed

Northern amber bumble bee on bee balm

Feeling so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet many endangered Karner blue butterflies today. Such a little, beautiful thing flittering by. Also saw many other lovely pollinators 🦋🐝🌻

Our new paper published today in Current Biology shows that immediate international cooperation is needed to conserve the eastern North American monarch butterfly.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

A grey cat smelling a hornworm on a hand

Tiny green frog on a leaf

Baby robins peaking out of their nest

Squash bee drinking nectar from a squash flower

Saturday backyard pals

Human Footprint | The Honey Trap | Season 2 | Episode 4 Shane investigates the future of bees, from honey bees to wild native species, in a changing world.

Check out the latest episode of Human Footprint (The Honey Trap) for some insight into my recent research and the things happening in @jamescrall.bsky.social's lab!🐝 Honored to be a part of this, it was so fun! Many thanks to the crew at Day's Edge @neillosin.bsky.social
www.pbs.org/video/the-ho...

Origin of obligate dim-light foraging in nomiine sweat bees (Halictidae: Nomiinae), with the description of a new species of Mellitidia - Arthropod-Plant Interactions Dim-light foraging is exhibited by the majority of the seven bee families (facultative behavior—five families; obligate behavior – four families) and represents an underappreciated aspect of pollinati...

first phylogeny for nocturnal foraging nomiine bees:
doi.org/10.1007/s118...