Brock Harpur
Associate Professor
Email: bharpur@purdue.edu
other lab images: https://beemolevo.com/egotrips
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Krispn Given
Senior Apiculture Specialist
Email: kgiven@purdue.edu
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Krispn Given is the Senior Apiculture Specialist and manages the Purdue Honey Bee Breeding Program. An international expert in instrumental insemination and honey bee breeding, he is most renowned for developing the “Indiana Mite-biter” strain. Krispn leads Purdue’s world-class extension efforts, training hundreds of students and researchers annually in advanced apiculture. He was the 2023 recipient of the EAS Roger A. Morse Outstanding Teaching Award, reflecting his status as a cornerstone of the department!
Riley Shultz
PhD Student
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Haldane proposed that males are worse at protecting their germline than females. My work investigates the origin and function of mutations in honey bee males. Honey bee males (drones) are hapoloid and express any mutation they inherit or acquire. My work explores how and if drones protect themselves from mutations and if they really are ‘faulty’ as Haldane predicted.
Stephanie Hathaway
PhD Student
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I am untangling the role of the major royal jelly proteins in the honey bee brain. Their role and foci of expression remain elusive. I am exploring the role these genes play and phenotypes associated with them using a combination of biochemical, histological, and neuroethological techniques across model and non-model systems.
Jonathan Nixon
PhD Student
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My project uses a multiomic approach to understand how diet influences sex and development. By integrating genomic, transcriptomic, and other molecular datasets, I aim to identify the biological pathways and regulatory mechanisms through which nutritional conditions shape developmental trajectories and sexual phenotypes.
Izaak Gilchrist
PhD Student
Ravelry: SugarySnail
Website
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My research focuses on behavior and communication between honey bee workers and drones. Unlike workers, drones are commonly allowed entry into non-natal colonies despite presenting a significant drain on resources. I'm interested in picking out the factors that affect when and why workers accept foreign drones, why this drifting occurs, and how this affects colony health.
Dylan Ryals
PhD Student
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My project focuses on honey bee genetics and breeding. In particular, I am studying how genetic diversity plays a role in bee fitness at the individual, colony, and population level—and how we can use that information to improve breeding programs. After starting as a backyard beekeeper, I worked in the commercial pollination and queen rearing industries before becoming a researcher. I plan to continue bee breeding after graduating.
Amy Wang
MS Student
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My project centers around characterizing the role of novel long non-coding RNAs in honey bee pigmentation through transcriptomic and functional genomic approaches.
Care to join us?
We’re always looking to work with great researchers at any stage of their career. If you’re interested in working with us as an undergraduate, graduate, or post-doc don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Harpur.
Lab Alumni
Mulusew Fikere - Post-doc (2023-2026) Presently: Computational Scientist at Eli Lily
Benjamin Taylor - Post-doc (2021-2025) Presently: Post-doc California State University, Fresno
W. Cameron Jasper - Post-doc (2022-2024)
Gillian Lane - MS Student (2024)
Mathew Dittmann - PhD Student (2020-2023) Presently: Post-doc California State University, Fresno
Garett Slater - PhD Student (2019-2022) Presently: Assistant Professor Texas A&M
Madeline Carpenter - MS Student (2019-2022) Presently: PhD Student University Vermont
Austin Carey - Research Assistant (2019-2021)
Dayne Hill - Capstone Student (2019-2020)
Savanna Ploessl - Research Assistant (2020-2021)
Anna Donnelly - Research Assistant (2021-2022)
Amos Buschkoetter - Research Assistant (2022-2025)
Amara Brenton - Research Assistant (2025-2026)