Welcome to the Hung pollinator lab at the University of Oklahoma! We seek to understand the impacts of environmental change on plant-pollinator mutualisms and to quantify the consequences of such impacts on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem function. To that end, we apply techniques from various disciplines of biology to our studies in both natural and human-modified ecosystems. Currently, research foci include impacts of climate change on plant-pollinator systems, pollinator conservation in the Great Plains, ecosystem functionality of restored habitats, and refining techniques for effective monitoring of pollinator populations.
As a member of the Oklahoma Biological Survey and the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory, we are also working to construct an inventory and distribution map of pollinator taxa within the state of Oklahoma, starting with native bees.
In the fall of 2026, we will move to Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Canada! Please reach out if you would like to join the team at our new home!
As a member of the Oklahoma Biological Survey and the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory, we are also working to construct an inventory and distribution map of pollinator taxa within the state of Oklahoma, starting with native bees.
In the fall of 2026, we will move to Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Canada! Please reach out if you would like to join the team at our new home!
Lab News
08/2025
We welcome Jasmine Cates to our lab! Jasmine comes to us from the Auburn Bee Lab with a strong background in bee diversity and educational outreach. She plans to study the use of roadside habitat for wild bee conservation for her PhD. We also congratulate Izzy Gonzales, who has transitioned from the position of Research Technician to MSc student! She will be spearheading our lab's efforts to document patterns of persistence in the rare Arogos Skipper, Atrytone arogos.
07/2025
Our study on pollen exploitation by feral honey bees, led by friend and colleague Dr. Dillon Travis, is published in Insect Conservation & Diversity! This is "yet another" study on exploitative competition that honey bees may exert upon native bees, but with a couple of fresh takes in that we (1) estimated the relative biomass in addition to the relative abundances of feral honey bees and the native bee community, and (2) quantified per-visit pollen grain removal by honey bees to scale up their role in pollen depletion for three key native plant species. Take-home message: when honey bees become abundant, they can harvest prodigious amounts of pollen that could otherwise turn into many more native bees, so we should really start thinking about ways to minimize conflicts between honey bees and native pollinators.
04/2025
Our study on persistence of foliar (i.e., not systemically applied) pesticides in pumpkin pollen, nectar, and leaf tissue is published in PLOS ONE! This is a collaboration with a "dream team" of lab mates from my postdoc days, led by Dr. Jessie Novotny. Take-home message: even when growers apply foliar insecticides and fungicides when pumpkin flowers are tightly closed, some of these chemicals still manage to translocate into the pollen and nectar, posing a hazard for pollinators that use those resources--so minimizing these sprays when pumpkin flowers are present at all, regardless of open or closed, would be best.
03/2025
We welcome Dineesha Premathilake to our lab! Dineesha comes with a strong background in data analysis, and will be spearheading some exciting bee biodiversity data projects for her PhD.
12/2024
Congratulations to Lauren Rosenfelt for successfully defending her MSc thesis (jointly advised with primary advisor Dr. Lara Souza), entitled "Ecosystem multifunctionality: Benefits of forb plant communities to local pollinators and soil properties". Excellent work, Lauren, and all the best in your next chapter in life (pun intended)!
11/2024
November is another big month for us. We attended the Entomological Society of America meeting in Phoenix, AZ as a whole lab group and met lots of colleagues and friends, and learned a lot from fantastic presentations and posters.
We also had two publications this month! One is a collaboration with Drs. Silas Bossert and Jack Neff, wherein we describe a new Andrena mining bee species in a brand-new subgenus of its own. The second is the first Hung Lab exclusive paper (!!) led by former Honors Thesis and Honors Research Assistantship students Tori Wierzchowski, Brooke Haden, and Abby Ren, wherein we demonstrate that urban botanical gardens containing late-winter and early-spring-blooming plants can help provision the first pollinators that emerge in the spring, whether these plants are native or exotic. Great job, team!
09/2024
After several months of silence, September is a big month for us! We welcome to the lab Hamza Saeed and Jacob Castro, who are working on various arthropod-related projects. Also, our study on the balance between pest control and pollinator protection in midwestern-US cucurbit crops is published (open access) in the Journal of Economic Entomology! Take-home message: systemic insecticides--especially thiamethoxam--is effective at controlling cucumber beetles, but typical cucurbit products and growing protocols likely use more than is necessary, to the point of posing as hazards to crucial pollinators. We can likely achieve better cost-efficiency as well as environmental friendliness by better calibrating the amount of insecticides we use.
08/2025
We welcome Jasmine Cates to our lab! Jasmine comes to us from the Auburn Bee Lab with a strong background in bee diversity and educational outreach. She plans to study the use of roadside habitat for wild bee conservation for her PhD. We also congratulate Izzy Gonzales, who has transitioned from the position of Research Technician to MSc student! She will be spearheading our lab's efforts to document patterns of persistence in the rare Arogos Skipper, Atrytone arogos.
07/2025
Our study on pollen exploitation by feral honey bees, led by friend and colleague Dr. Dillon Travis, is published in Insect Conservation & Diversity! This is "yet another" study on exploitative competition that honey bees may exert upon native bees, but with a couple of fresh takes in that we (1) estimated the relative biomass in addition to the relative abundances of feral honey bees and the native bee community, and (2) quantified per-visit pollen grain removal by honey bees to scale up their role in pollen depletion for three key native plant species. Take-home message: when honey bees become abundant, they can harvest prodigious amounts of pollen that could otherwise turn into many more native bees, so we should really start thinking about ways to minimize conflicts between honey bees and native pollinators.
04/2025
Our study on persistence of foliar (i.e., not systemically applied) pesticides in pumpkin pollen, nectar, and leaf tissue is published in PLOS ONE! This is a collaboration with a "dream team" of lab mates from my postdoc days, led by Dr. Jessie Novotny. Take-home message: even when growers apply foliar insecticides and fungicides when pumpkin flowers are tightly closed, some of these chemicals still manage to translocate into the pollen and nectar, posing a hazard for pollinators that use those resources--so minimizing these sprays when pumpkin flowers are present at all, regardless of open or closed, would be best.
03/2025
We welcome Dineesha Premathilake to our lab! Dineesha comes with a strong background in data analysis, and will be spearheading some exciting bee biodiversity data projects for her PhD.
12/2024
Congratulations to Lauren Rosenfelt for successfully defending her MSc thesis (jointly advised with primary advisor Dr. Lara Souza), entitled "Ecosystem multifunctionality: Benefits of forb plant communities to local pollinators and soil properties". Excellent work, Lauren, and all the best in your next chapter in life (pun intended)!
11/2024
November is another big month for us. We attended the Entomological Society of America meeting in Phoenix, AZ as a whole lab group and met lots of colleagues and friends, and learned a lot from fantastic presentations and posters.
We also had two publications this month! One is a collaboration with Drs. Silas Bossert and Jack Neff, wherein we describe a new Andrena mining bee species in a brand-new subgenus of its own. The second is the first Hung Lab exclusive paper (!!) led by former Honors Thesis and Honors Research Assistantship students Tori Wierzchowski, Brooke Haden, and Abby Ren, wherein we demonstrate that urban botanical gardens containing late-winter and early-spring-blooming plants can help provision the first pollinators that emerge in the spring, whether these plants are native or exotic. Great job, team!
09/2024
After several months of silence, September is a big month for us! We welcome to the lab Hamza Saeed and Jacob Castro, who are working on various arthropod-related projects. Also, our study on the balance between pest control and pollinator protection in midwestern-US cucurbit crops is published (open access) in the Journal of Economic Entomology! Take-home message: systemic insecticides--especially thiamethoxam--is effective at controlling cucumber beetles, but typical cucurbit products and growing protocols likely use more than is necessary, to the point of posing as hazards to crucial pollinators. We can likely achieve better cost-efficiency as well as environmental friendliness by better calibrating the amount of insecticides we use.
