Gemma N. Villagómez G.

• Stingless bees Biology
• Tropical Biology
• Biological rhythms
• Chemical Ecology
• Mathematical and Theoretical Biology

The main objective of my PhD is to understand species-specific differences in foraging patterns and resource intake of stingless bee colonies in a tropical ecosystem in Ecuador and Costa Rica. My specific objectives are:
1. Explore the species richness of floral sources visited (pollen and resin via DNA-metabarcoding) and resource intake (i.e. foraging activity, protein content of collected pollen, sugar concentration in collected nectar) of different stingless bee nests.
2. Explore species-specific nutritional preferences (protein and lipid content in pollen, sugar concentration in nectar), floral and resin sources visited by different stingless bees, as well as changes in bee-plant networks over the course of the day.
3. Explore preferences of stingless bees with regard to nectar chemistry using feeding choice and cafeteria experiments.
4. Improve a protocol to extract and quantify fatty acids in pollen samples.

• 02/2019 - present: PhD candidate Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg.
• 09/2016 – 10/2018: Master of Science in Biology, University of Würzburg.

Master’s Dissertation: "Effects of temperature and photoperiod on the seasonal timing of western honey bee colonies and two wild bulbous plants".

• 09/2010 – 09/2015: Bachelor in Biology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México.

Bachelor’s Dissertation: "Importancia de los heterodímeros PER:CRY y CLOCK:BMAL1 en la oscilación circadiana molecular: un acercamiento matemático". (Importance of the heterodimers PER:CRY and CLOCK:BMAL1 in the molecular circadian oscillation: a mathematical approach)