Kate Mathis

I am broadly interested in the behavioral ecology and evolution of species interactions, particularly those involving social insects in agricultural systems. My graduate work focused on interactions between phorid fly parasitoids and Azteca ants in coffee agroecosystems. I used a combination of field experiments and chemical ecology techniques to ask questions about phorid fly host location and preference, ant defense strategies, and cascading effects of phorid parasitism on ant associated beetles. My postdoctoral work in the Bronstein lab will investigate how environmental factors impact cooperation in an ant protection mutualism. Specifically, I will study how water stress drives cooperation between ants and commercial peach orchards with extrafloral nectaries in Arizona.