We study plant-pollinator interactions from nutritional and cognitive perspectives. We are interested in understanding how bees evaluate, learn about, and remember flowers. Likewise, we are interested in how the nutritional value of the nectar and pollen plants offer bees structures interactions with pollinators and co-flowering members of plant communities. An interest in understanding how human activities can perturb these interactions drives a parallel line of research, on how sublethal exposure to pesticides can affect bee behavior, sensory systems, and health. We address these questions using a combination of lab-based and field studies, often on bumblebees, at Sierra Nevada and Great Basin field sites.
David Charlet
Dr. Charlet’s research concerns the natural history of arid regions. His studies focus on the Great Basin and Mojave Desert, a region that includes most of Nevada and some of each of the surrounding states. Most of his research involves how plants are distributed across landscapes and regions.
Elizabeth Leger
Dr. Leger is interested in the population biology of plants. She works on local adaptation and rapid evolution of native and invasive plants, and is interested in how genetic variation (below the species level) affects the distribution and abundance of species. She also works on the rapid evolution of adaptive traits, and is currently interested in how native species can respond to environmental perturbations such as species invasion and climate change.
In addition to her work on plant population biology, she does projects that gather basic ecological data about rare species and natural communities, providing information that is necessary to make appropriate management and restoration decisions.