{"id":409,"date":"2020-12-07T14:20:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T19:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/bees\/speaker-series\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T11:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:34:09","slug":"speaker-series","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/bees\/speaker-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The goal of the Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (BEEc)'s Speaker Series is to provide opportunities for BEEc associates and invited guests to learn from each other. We are pleased to announce that starting Fall 2025, this series will be open to the public. If you miss the live webinar, we often are able to record presentations for others to view - please see below for those recordings, or subscribe to our YouTube Channel<\/a> to receive the most up-to-date notifications on new recordings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 11am Eastern Time, on the second or third Friday of every month, we will feature a different topic related to bees. These will be presented through the Zoom webinar platform, you will need to register individually for each webinar in the series.
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Dr. Xin Zhou<\/strong>
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Eukaryote Biodiversity Genomics, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Friday, February 20th, 2026 @ 11AM EST<\/strong>

Probing adaptive traits in honey bees through an evolutionary lens<\/strong>
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Honey bee traits that underpin both their ecological importance and value to the honey industry have been shaped by adaptive evolution in response to changing environmental pressures. My research investigates the molecular and genomic bases of these adaptive traits within an evolutionary framework, using the widespread Apis cerana<\/em> and A. mellifera<\/em> as model systems. Through an integrative approach combining genomics, functional genetics, metagenomics, and microbiology, we aim to uncover how these traits arise and evolve. In this presentation, I will highlight our recent discoveries on the molecular mechanisms underlying honey bee cold adaptation and food-intake regulation, and illustrate how natural selection repeatedly targets related genes to enhance survival under diverse environmental stressors.

Register: Zoom Link<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Join our Public \"Bees\" ListServ!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Looking to stay informed on BEEc's public news, general, research activities and events? Send an email to LISTSERV@YORKU.CA with the following command in the body of the email:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SUBSCRIBE BEES YourFirstName YourLastName<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Join our Internal \"BEEc-Associates\" ListServ!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Are you on our Internal BEEc Associates Listserv? This list is used for sharing our newsletters, upcoming events and opportunities. If you are not a Member of BEEc already, please contact beec@yorku.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scroll down for Past Presentations, Videos of Selected Presentations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Keep scrolling down the page to see the list of past presentations and recordings (where permissions were given for public posting). Or visit our YouTube Channel<\/a> to see the recordings from all our speaker series, webinars, conferences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Madeleine Ostwald<\/strong>
Lecturer in Ecology, Conservation, and Biodiversity, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Friday, March 13th, 2026 @ 11AM EST<\/strong>

Functional Ecology and Climate Resilience: Wild Bee Biology in a Changing<\/strong>

Representing more than 20,000 species globally, wild bees exhibit striking variation in morphology, physiology, and behaviour, that enabled them to thrive in diverse climates across all major terrestrial ecosystems. Despite this diversity, our understanding of bee climate responses is drawn overwhelmingly from studies on a handful of managed species. My research combines behavioural ecology, experimental physiology, specimen-based research, and computer vision techniques to investigate bee functional ecology across different environmental contexts. Together, these studies highlight signatures of climate resilience and climate vulnerability in this functionally rich and ecologically important pollinator group. 

Register:<\/strong> Zoom link<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Nathalia<\/strong> Andrea Florez Gomez<\/strong>
PhD Candidate<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Friday, April 17th, 2026 @ 11AM EST<\/strong>

Evolutionary history of bees in the tribe Emphorini (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Phylogeny, biogeography, and evolution of floral choices<\/strong>
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Bees exhibit a wide spectrum of dietary preferences, from generalist species that collect pollen from many plant families to specialists with narrow pollen diets. Among these specialists, the tribe Emphorini (Hymenoptera: Apidae) stands out as one of the most remarkable groups. Emphorines are solitary ground-nesting bees restricted to the Western Hemisphere with an antitropical distribution, comprising over a hundred species in nine genera with their highest diversity in southern South America. In this study, I reconstructed the most comprehensive phylogeny of the group to date using ultra conserved elements (UCEs) from 85 species to understand their biogeographic history, the evolutionary patterns of their floral choices, and to test whether diversification and dispersal events are related to their specialized pollen diets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Register:<\/strong> Zoom link<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Past events:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

2025-2026 Speaker Series Events<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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