In September, our lab was represented at the Royal Entomological Society’s Annual Conference, Ento25, held in Glasgow. Researchers from around the UK and the rest of the world came together to discuss all things insects, from ecology and evolution to conservation and climate change.
Matthew presented his talk titled “Do mother Bees Provisioning Young Tailor Their Pollen to the Nesting Environment?” which involved some data from our previous field season (among others) exploring how foraging mothers might adjust their nesting behaviour and offspring’s nutrition in response to temperature conditions of the nest.
Jamie, who works on his PhD in our lab alongside the grant team, presented some of his work on how developmental temperature stress can have long-term consequences for bee reproduction, titled “Lasting Impacts of Sublethal Pre-pupal Heatwaves on the Fertility of the Solitary Bee, Osmia bicornis”.
This conference was a fantastic opportunity to share some of our initial findings, learn from other researchers studying insects, and discuss emerging challenges for pollinators in a changing world.
Beyond the science, we enjoyed connecting with other early-career researchers during the EntOlympics quiz, and of course, joining in with the conference dinner and Ceilidh dancing!
We both returned home with new ideas, connections, and renewed excitement for our ongoing research.