James Laura P

Final Year PhD at Rothamsted Research in conjunction with the University of Nottingham. My interests lie in behavioural ecology and the link between observed behavioural phenotypes and underlying molecular mechanisms, particularly in relation to biotic and abiotic stressors in agricultural environments. Bees make a fascinating model species in which to study these areas, with a large behavioural repertoire and complex learning capabilities. My current research studies the molecular impacts of chronic pesticide exposure on bumblebee learning and memory. My research spans the fields of ecotoxicology, entomology, behaviour and molecular biology; this multi-disciplinary background makes me uniquely qualified to study the impacts of environmental stressors on beneficial invertebrates across a variety of settings in both the field and the laboratory. During my research I have gained experience in insect handling, toxicology, bioassays and behavioural experiments including developing novel behavioural assays. This has been complemented by molecular and bioinformatics approaches using RNA seq experiments to examine genome wide differences in expression between bees with different learning abilities