The biology department has had a strong start to the year. From Jan. 3-7, five students attended the recent conference of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) in Austin, Texas, with four students being nominated for or winning awards. Dr. Avery Russell, assistant professor of biology at Missouri State University, advises all student … [Read more...] about Biology department brings buzz to Austin
Diversity helps populations thrive. This is true of the people and plants involved in natural resource management. The Conservation Foundation of Missouri Charitable Trust (CFMCT) established the Minority Natural Resource Scholarship to encourage and assist minority students in the field. Vanessa Morales, biology senior at Missouri State University, is the 2021 … [Read more...] about Supporting diversity and management of natural resources
Learning is key to success, even for bees. Bees’ capacity to learn could be influenced by internal factors, including their gut health. Biology graduate student Parker Campbell studies how gut health relates to bee behavior and survival. She recently received a grant from the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) to aid in her research … [Read more...] about Linking bees’ health and behavior
Dr. Avery Russell, assistant professor of biology, attended the national meeting of the Animal Behavior Society (ABS) in August of 2019 in Chicago. Russell co-hosted a diversity workshop on cultural competency at the meeting. Dr. Cameron Jones and doctoral student Montrai Spikes also led the event. “The goal of the workshop was to increase retention of underrepresented … [Read more...] about Bias as behavior: Understanding cultural competency
Like other living creatures, plants are capable of deceit. Dr. Avery Russell, assistant professor of biology, studies how some plants deceive insects through a process called floral mimicry. About his research In plants that engage in floral mimicry, flowers mimic other flowers to trick insects into pollinating them. The pollen the insects spread fertilizes flowers and … [Read more...] about From ploy to pollination: How flowers plant tricks on bees