Dr. Christoph Grüter

Group leader

I'm an Associate Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, UK. My research focuses on the behaviour, ecology and evolution of social insects. I'm particularly interested in communication and colony organisation in honeybees, stingless bees and ants.

Sam Macro Versteeg

PhD candidate

I graduated from Aberystwyth university with a degree in Biochemistry before going to Cardiff university where I did my MSc in Biological chemistry working with Professor John Pickett on elucidating the biochemical production of a semiochemical: 2R,5S theaspirane. I now work on using the chemical ecology and behaviour of bees focussing mainly on how they change their foraging behaviour when they pick up chemical markers left by predatory insects.

Ana Paula Cipriano

PhD candidate (co-supervised with Dr. Emily Bell)

I'm a biologist interested in understanding how animals interact with their environment. I did my Masters at the University of São Paulo and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. My interest in conservation has led me to undertake internships in NGOs and work with environmental conservation and traditional communities in Brazil, as well as science communication. I am now interested in understanding the drifting behaviour and colony health in social bees - exploring pesticides, pathogens, nutritional issues, and nest arrangements' impact on the drifting.

Katherin León

PhD candidate (co-supervised with Dr. Harry Siviter & Dr. Andrés Arenas)

I completed a major in Biology and a minor in Ecology at the Universidad del Rosario in Colombia. Driven by my interest in behavioural and cognitive ecology in insects, I was awarded an internship at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute where I led a project to understand how interactions of Megalopta genalis (a facultatively social sweat bee) relate to substrate vibrations. Currently, I study how flower constancy in bees is influenced by temperature and floral distribution, and how low diet diversity affects bee learning, communication, and gene expression. 

Elizabeth Benson

PhD candidate (co-supervised with Dr. Selina Bruns)

I am interested in ecology, biocultural conservation, and food systems. I studied biology at Harvard University and later worked at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab, researching bumble bee health in prairie restoration experiments. Since 2018, I have been based in the Peruvian Amazon, working with a non-profit that supports stingless beekeepers in rural communities. My current focus explores how robber bees and climate change influence stingless beekeeping and livelihoods in these communities. 


Mini (Kate) Graydon

PhD candidate (co-supervised with Prof. Natalie Hempel de Ibarra and Dr. Sean Rands)

After completing my MRes in honey bee behaviour in the same lab group, I became intrigued by the wonderful and interesting behaviours of bees. Now, I am lucky enough to be a NERC GW4+ PhD candidate, and I’m allowed to spend 3.5 more years researching their lives. I am particularly interested in ultimate questions around floral constancy, and whether it is an adaptive trait or a result of cognitive limitations. In the team, my focus is on examining how climate change and land-use change may impact floral constancy and bee health. I thoroughly enjoy working as part of the Social Insect Behaviour and Ecology lab and seeing my colleagues everyday!


Former PhD students & postdocs

  • Dr. Rajbir Kaur (2021-2024)
  • Dr. Yongqiang Wu (2019-2024)
  • Dr. Anissa Kennedy (2018-2022)
  • Dr. Simone Glaser (2017-2021)
  • Dr. Tianfei Peng (2016-2020)
  • Dr. Robbie I'Anson Price (2013-2018)