Summary
Anne Leonard has been a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno since 2012. Originally from Berkeley, California, she began her study of animal behavior while an undergraduate at Brown University. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, she received an NIH PERT postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona and the Darwin Fellowship to study bee and spider behavior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In addition to authoring numerous articles in scientific journals, Leonard’s research on interactions between bees and flowers has received coverage in The New York Times, NPR’s “Morning Edition”, Science News and BBC.com. Supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the USDA, her lab group asks basic questions about interactions between plants and pollinators and seeks out opportunities to share their research with the public.
Research interests
We study plant-pollinator interactions from nutritional and cognitive perspectives. We are interested in understanding how bees evaluate, learn about, and remember flowers. Likewise, we are interested in how the nutritional value of the nectar and pollen plants offer bees structures interactions with pollinators and co-flowering members of plant communities. An interest in understanding how human activities can perturb these interactions drives a parallel line of research, on how sublethal exposure to pesticides can affect bee behavior, sensory systems, and health. We address these questions using a combination of lab-based and field studies, often on bumblebees, at Sierra ÁùºÏ±¦µä and Great Basin field sites.
Education
- Darwin Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2011-2012
- PERT Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Arizona, 2008-2011
- Ph.D., Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2008
- M.S., Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2004
- B.A., Biology, Brown University, 2001
Postdoctoral experience
- Darwin Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2011-2012
- PERT Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Arizona, 2008-2011
Publications
A complete list of publications can be found on Dr. Leonard's website:
Select publications
- Francis, J. S., Acevedo, C. R., Muth, F., & Leonard, A. S. (2019). Nectar quality changes the ecological costs of chemically defended pollen. Current Biology, 29(14), R679-R680.
- Muth, F., & Leonard, A. S. (2019). A neonicotinoid pesticide impairs foraging, but not learning, in free-flying bumblebees. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-13.
- Muth, F., Francis, J. S., & Leonard, A. S. (2016). Bees use the taste of pollen to determine which flowers to visit. Biology Letters, 12(7), 20160356.
Courses taught
- BIOL 418 Sensory Systems: Ecology, Evolution and Diversity
- BIOL 125h How Science Works
- EECB 790 Biocareers Graduate Seminar (topics vary)