Ryan Brock

I am a current PhD student in the Bourke group at the University of East Anglia. My research interests mainly involve the evolution of sociality in the bees, wasps, ants and termites. I am also interested in the evolution of co-operative behaviour in birds, mammals, and microbes, along with science communication. My PhD focuses on the social organisation and population genetics of the Tree Bumblebee, a recent colonist of the UK that has rapidly increased in both range and abundance.

Previously, I undertook a MSc (by research) in the Sumner Lab at the University of Bristol. My project looked at caste evolution and transcriptomics in the Epiponini, a tribe of Neotropical social wasps. Alongside this, I was also involved in a project which dealt with the economic and ecological value of wasps. Before this, I assisted in a project on the epigenetic mechanisms underlying sociality in bumblebees.