Seeking future PhD student(s) (and potentially postbacs or research technicians) in Virology that are interested in honey bee host - virus interactions. 

Research in the Flenniken lab is aimed at elucidating the impact of viruses on honey bees at the cellular, individual bee, and colony levels.

Honey bees are interesting eusocial insects that are important pollinators of crop producing plants and plants that enhance the biodiversity of all landscapes. They are readily infected with small RNA viruses, and these viruses likely have a broad host range (i.e., infect other insects including bumble bees, wasps, ants, and Varroa destructor mites, which are honey bee parasites and viral vectors).  Honey bee antiviral defenses including dsRNA triggered mechanisms including RNA interference and a non-sequence specific pathway, Toll, Imd, and JAK/STAT pathways and more! Honey bees are an important non-model insect, which means there is room for new scientists to discovery new viruses, immune pathways, genes, etc. !  It is an exciting field of virology.

For more information, please visit the lab website: https://plantsciences.montana.edu/directory/faculty/1524085/michelle-flenniken and read some of our recent papers. If you are interested in joining the lab, please send an email cover-letter to Michelle Flenniken (michelle.flenniken@montana.edu ) describing your research experiences, current goals, and research interests.  Please also attach a  CV describing your educational accomplishments, publication record, and contact information for at least three references.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Michelle Flenniken