Berry Brosi

Our research is focused broadly on the community ecology of mutualisms. A central theme in my lab is understanding the relationship between biological diversity and ecosystem processes, especially those driven by mutualisms and other species interactions.

Within this theme, much of our work focuses on the causes and ecosystem functional consequences of pollinator declines, which are of critical societal relevance given the central role of bees as pollinators in both natural ecosystems as well as the human agricultural enterprise.

Recent work has focused on understanding the consequences for plant reproduction of experimental removals of pollinator species; incorporating more biology into pollination network models to improve predictions; and understanding honey bee declines using an ecological and evolutionary approach.

We use a range of scientific approaches including manipulative and comparative field studies, controlled laboratory experiments, mathematical modeling, and population genetics.

Our research is funded by NSF, NIH, USDA, other government agencies, and non-profit organizations.

In addition, I am actively engaged in environmental policy research with environmental lawyers and practitioners.