Hi, I'm Dr. Priscila Santos, a new Assistant Professor in the Zoology Department at Weber State University.
My lab studies one of nature's most fascinating insects: BEES!!!
I'm especially fascinated by two aspects of bee adaptations.
1) How do bees make it through winter? Many bee species enter a state called diapause, where their metabolism slows dramatically, and they wait out the cold months in a kind of suspended animation. I want to understand the molecular mechanisms that turn this survival strategy on and off, and how it has shaped bee evolution over millions of years.
2) In social bee colonies, a queen and her worker bees carry the same genetic information, yet the queen can live for years while her workers survive only weeks or months. How can the same genome produce such wildly different lifespans? Answering this could reveal fundamental insights into aging itself, not just in bees, but potentially in other organisms too.
My lab studies one of nature's most fascinating insects: BEES!!!
I'm especially fascinated by two aspects of bee adaptations.
1) How do bees make it through winter? Many bee species enter a state called diapause, where their metabolism slows dramatically, and they wait out the cold months in a kind of suspended animation. I want to understand the molecular mechanisms that turn this survival strategy on and off, and how it has shaped bee evolution over millions of years.
2) In social bee colonies, a queen and her worker bees carry the same genetic information, yet the queen can live for years while her workers survive only weeks or months. How can the same genome produce such wildly different lifespans? Answering this could reveal fundamental insights into aging itself, not just in bees, but potentially in other organisms too.
How to get involved?
If you're an undergraduate curious about evolution, genetics, animal behavior, or just really like bees, I'd love to have you in the lab. No prior research experience required, just curiosity and a willingness to learn. Stop by my office hours or send me an email to learn about current opportunities.