Faculty
S. Hollis Woodard
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Biology, 2012, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
B.A., Biology & Anthropology, 2005, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Research Areas
Native bee feeding biology and nutritional ecology
The Woodard lab focuses on the feeding biology and nutritional ecology of native bees, one of our most economically and ecologically important groups of pollinators. The lab primarily uses bumble bees as a model system for addressing a variety of topics, which include the role of nutritional mechanisms in bee social evolution; the influence of nutritional landscapes on bee behavior, development, and population dynamics; and the roles that food availability and nutrition play in native bee decline. We examine these questions using a complementary mix of experimental, molecular, and field approaches, and with the ultimate goal of advancing biodiversity conservation, human food security, and our basic understanding of native bee biology.
Awards Received
2013-2015 USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship
2015 Rom Rhome International Professional Development Award, University of Texas at Austin
2007-2009 Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Summer Research Award, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2005 Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence
Publications
Selected Publications
Woodard SH, Jha S, Lozier J, Strange J, Williams P, and D Goulson. 2015. Molecular tools and bumble bees: using a model system to reveal hidden details of native bee ecology. Molecular Ecology.
Woodard SH, Bloch G, Band MR, and Robinson GE. 2014. Molecular heterochrony and the evolution of cooperative brood care behavior in bumble bees (Bombus terrestris). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 281: 20132419.
Woodard SH, Bloch G, Band MR, & Robinson GE. 2013. Social regulation of maternal traits in nest-founding bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) queens. Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 3474–3482.
Woodard SH*, Fischman BJ*, Venkat A, Hudson ME, Varala K, Cameron SA, Clark AG, & Robinson GE. 2011. Genes involved in convergent evolution of eusociality in bees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108: 7472-7477 (*: co-principal authors)
Fischman BJ*, Woodard SH*, & Robinson GE. 2011. Molecular evolutionary analyses of insect society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108: 10847-10854.
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