How does vision shape our understanding of the world? Research student Bonnie writes about the architecture of the brain & how it inspires #ComputerVision: allowing computers to not only identify & categorize objects, but also interact with the world. hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/what... @hmc.edu
Here's the second post in my students' #NaturalHistory blog series! Anna writes about "Ecology Underfoot" -- the surprising plant diversity to be found in a tiny patch of seemingly bare ground: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/ecol... @hmc.edu
A mug of tea held in front of a white sage plant. Photo by Taylor Baugh.
If you've ever walked through a California native shrubland, you might have noticed how good you smell afterwards. Sagescrub is incredibly aromatic -- but does it make good tea? Read Taylor's latest student blog post to find out! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/02/smel...
What's *your* Ant Navigation style? When you're lost, do you make like an Argentine ant and follow the crowd, or like a desert ant and look for landmarks? Read more about the different ways ants find their way in Paul's latest student blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/12/ant-... @hmc.edu
Picture of a snowman saying "Have a great winter break" with a pencil drawing of an "ant-snowman" next to it.
I always appreciate the first-year students' comments & drawings on the final exam, but *this* one especially 😍 🐜!
From the surface, ant nests don't look like much. But underground, there's *a lot* going on! Learn about the complex structure & construction of ant nests, and what we have to learn from it all, in Pranay's new blog post: "Antchitecture"! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/12/antc... @hmc.edu
California harvester #ants have a powerful sting -- so powerful that Indigenous people of the region ingested hundreds of them to induce visions. Read more in Ananya's latest blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/12/trip... (Don't try this at home!!) @hmc.edu
What makes humans "special"? Well, it isn't farming... ants have been doing it a lot longer than we have! Read more about fungus farming ants in Diya's latest student blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/11/hold... @hmc.edu
Students in my lab have been observing interactions b/w native and invasive ants in our local field station. First-year student Su writes about the different species they've encountered in the process, including our fave, the California harvester ant! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... @hmc.edu
We've seen our turtle ants, after being bitten, stung and thrown by twig ants, just walk away all nonchalant. What makes them so hard core? Read about our latest exploratory project in Lexie's new blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/11/knig... @hmc.edu
Want to learn about ant weaponry & wrestling moves? New undergrad student Phoebe interviewed collaborator Dr. Scott Powell to find out how the enemy species she's studying in the lab interact in the field. Read her blog post here: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/10/neve... #ants #wrestling @hmc.edu
Hey #ABS2025 are you excited to see some Ant Wrestling?? My undergrad Marissa Douglas made this fun trailer for her thesis presentation: youtu.be/MtBHG3XNVxY?... I'll be talking about it this afternoon at 4pm in Social Aggression.
Wanna read more about ant wrestling -- and learn how we make science replicable? First-year undergrad Hanna writes about her experience working in the lab this semester & what she learned about the importance of a detailed protocol w/ lots of examples hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/05/wres... @hmc.edu
“Say No to Weakening the Endangered Species Act” Endangered Fender's blue butterfly at a restoration site near Fern Ridge
Protecting habitat is perhaps THE most important conservation strategy. But a proposed change to the Endangered Species Act would stop doing so, allowing people & companies to destroy habitat that endangered species need to survive.
Join us in stopping this change ➡️ xerces.org/protect-the-esa
"Have you ever watched a WWE wrestling match and wished you could see it at a fraction of the size? Ever wanted to see miniature body slams, tiny submission holds and even small aerial moves?" If so, read on in the latest student blog post by Lexie! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/05/wres... @hmc.edu #ants
Work on the resilience of wood ant transport networks led by SandorPiross shows network dynamics that are highly effective in stable environments have limited capacity to cope with targeted disruption 2/2 @uoyopenres.bsky.social @matinadonaldson.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Meet the lab ants, part II! In this blog post, Chloé introduces our three species (turtle ants, two kinds of twig ants) & the personality differences she's observed. Like me, she prefers turtle ants, but her reasons are different... hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/12/flor... #ants @harveymudd.bsky.social
Tavo joined my lab this semester because he loves insects, so he was super excited to learn how to use the lab's dissecting scope to get up close and personal with *live* turtle & twig ants 🐜🐜🐜. Read his blog post, w/ lots of pics: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/12/up-c... #ants @harveymudd.bsky.social
The Red Imported Fire Ant is a major invasive pest across much of the US, but it also accomplishes some really cool engineering feats. Read TJ's latest student blog post about fire ant rafts, which they use to survive floods: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/12/when... @harveymudd.bsky.social #ants
The prisoner's dilemma is a classic game that emphasizes conflict & shows how hard cooperation can be. In the latest student blog post, Julianne explains how red fire ant queens get around this problem using a green beard: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/12/ant-... @harveymudd.bsky.social #ants #gametheory
drawing of a sleeping ant by Diya
Ever wonder: do ants sleep? In the latest student blog post, Diya writes about ants' sleeping habits -- and what college students have to learn from them! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/11/an-a... #ants @harveymudd.bsky.social
If you missed Dr. Sue Chan’s poster on cucurbit pollen collection and use by squash #bees (Xenoglossa pruinosa) at #EntSoc24, feel free to check out the @jpollecol.bsky.social open access paper instead: doi.org/10.26786/192... @entsocamerica.bsky.social
Want to be my colleague? There are two tenure track Assistant Prof positions opening up at my university - month of 1st consideration is Jan 2025 😄
One for Freshwater Fisheries Biology and the other for Animal Ecology! 😊
jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/78080
jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/78118
Two Lichtenberg Lab student presentations at #EntSoc24 on Monday! At 9 in 129A, Avery Pearson is talking about how ranch management alters plant visitation networks. At 11:42 in 132A, Marie Muñiz is talking about bees learning from lady beetles.
From Day 1 of my Experimental Ecology class, Chan's been focused on 🌱(and avoiding 🕷️). But in this new student blog post, he discovers that to really understand plants, you need to learn about other organisms too -- like 🍄 & even (gasp)🐞! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/04/yerb... @harveymudd.bsky.social
In the third natural history blog post from my ecology class, Marissa writes about her seemingly fruitless search for coyotes, and how much she has learned about them from, well, their 💩. hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/03/what... @harveymudd.bsky.social #iTeachBio
Calling all grad students in N. America studying #ants, #bees, #wasps or #termites! We're accepting applications for IUSSI-NAS Spring Research Awards, plus nominations for Best Student Paper on behavior/evolution in social arthropods. For more info: iussi.cyberbee.net/2024/03/iuss...
Image of bright blue scrub jay flying in front of green vegetation. Photo by Arman Khasru.
Here's the second student blog post about keeping a natural history notebook! This week, Josie writes about how she started out *looking* for birds -- but found that *listening* (along w/ Merlin Bird ID app) was more fruitful! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-... @harveymudd.bsky.social #iTeachBio
Let me know if you want to look at any of my prompts, happy to share!
I've done it for many years and always had good student buy in, but I also have the luxury of a small upper-division elective, so students are generally excited about the class
