BeeMORE Faculty Mentors

 

David R. Tarpy, Ph.D.

Dr. Tarpy is a Professor of Entomology at NC State University and the state's Extension Apiculturist (honey bee specialist). His research program focuses on the biology and behavior of honey bee queens to better improve the overall health of queens and their colonies. 

Website:

https://www.ncsuapiculture.net

Elsa Youngsteadt, Ph.D.

Dr. Youngsteadt is an Assistant Professor and Extension Urban Ecology Specialist in the Department of Applied Ecology.  Research in her lab works at the interface of urbanization and climate change to understand how plants, insects, and their interactions respond to anthropogenic stressors.

Website:

https://youngsteadtlab.org

 

 

Carlos Goller, Ph.D.

Dr. Goller is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Biotechnology program. His research program focuses on high-throughput screening for novel microbial inhibitors, metagenomic surveys of microbes in different environments, and characterization of the mechanisms by which microbes form biofilms.

Website:

https://carloscgollerphd.blog/

 

Rebecca Irwin, Ph.D.

Dr. Irwin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Ecology. Her research program focuses on two topics at the interface of microbiology and bee biology: 1) Exploring how secondary metabolites in nectar and pollen affect disease in wild bees and 2) Investigating how yeasts and bacteria found in nectar affect plants, pollinators, and their interactions. 

Website:

https://irwinlab.weebly.com/

 

 

Manuel Kleiner, Ph.D.

Dr. Kleiner is an Assistant Professor of Microbiomes and Complex Microbial
 Communities at NC State University. His research program, funded through federal grants and industry partnerships, focuses on unraveling functional interactions in host-microbiomes using mass spectrometry based metaproteomic approaches developed in his laboratory.
 

Hannah Levenson, Ph.D.

Dr. Levenson is a postdoctoral research scholar and lead of the Specialty Crops IPPM Lab in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. Her research uses pollinators in agricultural settings with concepts of integrated pest and pollinator management as tools to research how humans impact the environment and exploring ways to mitigate those impacts.

Website: 

https://hklevens.wixsite.com/hannahklevensonphd

 

 

William Petry, Ph.D.

Dr. Petry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. His research unites mathematical models and empirical data to understand the ecological processes that enable species to persist, assemble into communities, and coexist in the face of environmental change.

Website:

https://parameterizeit.github.io/

Kasie Raymann, Ph.D.

Dr. Raymann is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. Research in her lab focuses on microbial ecology and evolution using the honey bee as a model system to investigate 1) how physiological and environmental factors (natural and chemical) impact the microbiome, 2) what factors influence microbiome structure and function, and 3) what drives the evolution of virulence in opportunistic pathogens.
 

Caiti Smukowski Heil, Ph.D.

Dr. Smukowski Heil is an Assistant Professor
in the Biological Sciences department studying evolutionary processes using yeast as a model system. Recent collaborative research is focused on the genetic diversity of nectar yeast and how pollinators are facilitating yeast dispersal and outcrossing.