Welcome to the E. M. Tucker Lab!
I currently work remotely and don’t have a lab of my own (right now), but when I do have lab space, I am broadly interested in all insect diversity, and primarily focus on Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, ants). Hymenoptera is an excellent focus group as the group is hyper-diverse and runs the spectrum of ecological necessities. Hymenoptera are crucial to pollination and crop production, essential as biological control agents in natural and agricultural systems, and can be significant pests in natural and urban environments. I love to explore topics in Hymenoptera ecology, taxonomy and systematics, and museum collections research.
Ongoing projects include:
- Facilitating the collection of baseline taxonomic and ecological information from local and global hymenoptera through digitizing historical bee and wasp specimens. This type of data is essential in examining shifts in current bee distributions and plant-pollinator networks.
- Facilitating and contributing to the sharing of helpful workflows, tools, and other resources my entomomological colleagues may find useful.
- Writing about the amazing biodiversity all around us and providing it in a free, fun, and easy to digest format 😊
Check out what previous lab members were studying in my lab on People Page.
Interested in becoming a citizen scientist? Check out Notes From Nature where you can help scientist transcribe and capture important specimen information! Examine lots of cool bugs that you normally would have to visit a museum to see, learn about the organisms and collections that house them, and find out about projects using the data associated with the specimens all in one place! There is even a chat feature where you can ask all sorts of questions while helping scientists with their projects.
Two of my favorite NfN projects (since I’m involved in them 😃) that still need your help are:
