ERIKA H DAWSON
RESEARCH PROJECTS
SOCIAL LEARNING
Many animals are capable of learning from other individuals, a process known as social learning. Using bees, my research tries to uncover the underlying mechanisms of these seemingly complex behaviours to better understand how they evolved across the animal kingdom.
SOCIAL INTERACTIONS & DISEASE PROGRESSION
Social interactions can heavily influence the behaviour and physiology of animals. In addition to this, there are suggestions that an individual’s social environment may also affect the development of non-transmissible diseases. Using fruit flies, I investigate the dynamic between social environment and the progression of chronic diseases.
SOCIAL IMMUNITY
Many ant species posses sophisticated defences that prevent or limit the spread of pathogens. However, we know very little regarding how these defences come together at the colony level. I aim to answer this question with a particular focus on elucidating if, and how, ants communicate pathogen threats across the nest, in order to mount colony-level defences.
