Lila Westreich

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Environment and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. I study the foraging behavior of native solitary bees in urban and rural environments through the use of genetic analysis of pollen, and the associations between native bees and microbes across a gradient of landscape disturbances. Prior to graduate school, I was involved in restoration work and worked with children at a wildflower restoration site in Minneapolis, and was involved in research in plant and microbial genetics through the University of Minnesota. I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in plant breeding and genetics, and am an avid musician, dancer, oyster-eater, and lover of all things outdoors.