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.

Dr. Rajbir Kaur

Postdoctoral researcher

I am a behaviour biologist fascinated with the world of social insects. I have worked on many different aspects of collective behaviour in ants, from colony movement to parasitism with all possible means available - behavioural observation to molecular examination to chemical profiling. Currently I am exploring the world of bees with special focus on the impact of land-use change on their health and nutrition.

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

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

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. 


Former PhD students & postdocs

  • 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)