About us
Micki Palmersheim
Kaeser Fellow, Graduate Student
Kaeser Fellow, Graduate Student
Hi! My name is Micki Palmersheim. I grew up in Rochester, Minnesota and then moved to Fargo, North Dakota to complete my bachelors in Biological Sciences at North Dakota State University. After I graduated from NDSU, I spent a year working at the USDA-ARS researching pollinators and sub-lethal effects of neonicotinoids on their behavior and physiology. I am currently a 2nd year graduate student working under the advisement of Dr. Maggie Couvillon at Virginia Tech in the Entomology department.
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Dr. Margaret J. Couvillon
Assistant Professor, Pollinator Biology & Ecology
Assistant Professor, Pollinator Biology & Ecology
Maggie is a broadly trained bee researcher with a particular interest in the foraging and recruitment behaviors of the honey bee. She earned her undergraduate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans (B.S. in Biology, minor in Chemistry) and then spent a year as an AmeriCorps *NCCC volunteer. She completed a M.S. in Neurobiology at Duke University before moving overseas for her Ph.D. with Professor Francis Ratnieks at the University of Sheffield, where she investigated mechanisms of nestmate recognition in honey bees and stingless bees. As a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Anna Dornhaus at the University of Arizona, she investigated proximate and ultimate explanations for worker size variation in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens. For a second postdoc, she rejoined the lab of Francis Ratnieks, now at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. There she worked to develop the honey bee, in particular its waggle dance communication, as a bioindicator for the "health" of the British landscape. In 2017, Maggie started as an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech in the Entomology department.
For more information about Maggie's research, click here |
Becca Geisler
Undergraduate Assistant
Undergraduate Assistant
Becca is a rising senior in Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech, with aspirations to pursue a career in academia with a focus on invertebrate zoology. Becca has declared a love for the color yellow, Rosy Maple Moths, and Red Pandas. They enjoy expressing themselves in all forms of creativity, especially through choreographing dances, writing, and making art. In their free time, Becca plays RPGs and their favorites are the Dragon Age and Mafia series as well as tabletop D&D.
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Jenna Slezak
Undergraduate Assistant
Undergraduate Assistant
Hello, My name is Jenna Slezak! I’m originally from Fredericksburg, VA and I’m a current senior at Virginia Tech. I’m majoring in biology and microbiology and plan to graduate in May 2021. This is the first scientific research project I’ve been involved in and I’ve enjoyed learning so much about specific pollinators and their interactions in our garden!
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Hannah Wojtysiak
Undergraduate Assistant
Undergraduate Assistant
Hannah Wojtysiak is currently a senior at Virginia Tech. She is studying Wildlife Conservation with a minor in entomology. Hannah currently works in a variety of different labs on campus from pollinators, to shorebirds, to aquatic macroinvertebrates. After graduation, she will attend Texas Tech University in the fall of 2021 to obtain her Master's degree studying a species of dragonfly.
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This project is made possible by a generous donation by Kaeser Compressors! Kaeser's partnership provides the financial support that is used to purchase all materials, travel allocation, and 2 years of a student stipend for graduate student, Micki Palmersheim, and undergraduate assistants, Jenna, Hannah, and Becca.
Kaeser's mission is to provide quality air compressors that operate with exceptional energy efficiency and maximum environmental-compatibility. With our partnership, Virginia Tech and Kaeser can help the declining pollinator populations!
Kaeser's mission is to provide quality air compressors that operate with exceptional energy efficiency and maximum environmental-compatibility. With our partnership, Virginia Tech and Kaeser can help the declining pollinator populations!