Insect Research Group, University College London
We are excited to announce the start of our BBSRC- “Bioinformatics and Biological Resources Fund” grant to help build next generation agri-ecology workflows and their respective communities.
We used samples from the Big Wasp Survey to analyse the population genetic structure of the Common Yellowjacket, Vespula vulgaris across the UK. You can read the paper here (Open Access).
Professor Fabio Nascimento visited the Summer lab in July 2023 as part of the Nerc-Fapesp Seed Corn project (NE/W004437/1) “Secrets to a Successful Hunt: Integrating Genomes, Chemistry, and Behaviour in Neotropical Solitary Wasps”. We had productive discussions about the next steps in our projects and new ideas. Prof. Fabio presented a talk titled “What Hormones […]
In order to foster new relationships between wasp researchers, the NHM and its collections, we organised the first ever (with hopefully more to come) “Wasp Day” in May 2023. This aimed to unite researchers associated with the Sumner lab and NHM scientists, and find ways to use the wasp collections in future projects. A secondary […]
In January of 2023, Prof Seirian Sumner and post-doc Dr Cintia Oi travelled to Brazil to carry out work as part of their project Secrets to a Successful Hunt: Integrating Genomes, Chemistry and Behaviour in Neotropical Solitary Wasps (read full details of this collaborative international NERC-funded project here).
Postdoc Émeline Favreau on her experience attending the Nextflow Summit and Hackathon in October 2022
A new paper, first author Emeline Favreau, has been highlighted in the January edition of journal Genome Biology and Evolution. Congratulations to Emeline, Chris Wyatt and Katie Geist on their momentous study on the molecular basis of sociality across bees and wasps. Read the highlight here, or find the paper itself here.
We were delighted to host a group meeting with Sjoert on November 2022. Sjoert co-founded “The Wasp Foundation” (www.wespenstichting.nl) with the objectives of improving wasp image (promoting #wasplove) and to develop techniques to relocate wasp nests! He told us all about his brilliant work in Netherlands, the methodology he uses, and he presented a sustainable […]
We went to sample some Vespa crabro workers at the end of the summer. MSci student Iona had previously located the active nest within a public park. PhD student Owen and Lewis joined the fieldtrip one Friday afternoon in North London. Postdoc Emeline brought tubes and protective gear, while Hornet expert John arrived with an […]
Ed: We were delighted to host A-level student Elo Wilkinson-Rowe in our lab for two weeks in the summer of 2018. She threw herself into being a research scientist with great gusto, and seems to have enjoyed herself. Read her Blog below. If you are interested in the In2Science scheme (as a student or a […]