People

Jenifer grew up in Othello, WA. She enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, documentaries and photographing wildlife. Exploring new places brings her joy. Her passion for environmental conservation started 5 years ago and she realized that if we all work together, we can provide a sustainable future for generations to come. Jenifer is proud to be part of the honey bee research program.

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jenifer.silva@wsu.edu

Sandra is a PhD candidate in WSU from the College of Education and has a master’s degree in Foreign Languages and Cultures from WSU. She has many years of experience as a Spanish and English teacher, as well as working as a freelance translator. Sandra is responsible for Spanish language support for our bee program. She translates our publications and assists in developing new educational materials in both English and Spanish. She is enthusiastic about reaching a diverse community of beekeepers in the region.

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spminaherrera@wsu.edu

Ryan is originally from Holland, Michigan, and he completed his PhD at the University of Kentucky in the Gonthier lab studying spotted-wing drosophila in blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry crops. His doctoral work focused on identifying landscape influences on spotted-wing drosophila and management practices that reduce damage to small fruit crops. His work also made him an excellent small fruit grower and a novice organic vegetable grower. He has a passion for landscape ecology and multivariate statistics and his work at WSU applies both to commercial scale operations and individual honey bee colony health. In his free time, Ryan hikes in pursuit of plant, insect, and landscape photos and plays video games.

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Instagram: @couskues

Taylor is 4^th generation beekeeper and has worked with honey bees for over 10 years. She is a postdoctoral researcher in the Hopkins lab. Her doctoral work focused on the behavioral ecology and genetics of Varroa destructor. While at WSU, she is largely working on studying the impacts of different supplemental diets on honey bee health within stationary and migratory colonies. Taylor also studies difference in Varroa mite population structure across the United States. In her free time Taylor creates social media content about all things women’s history. 

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Chelsea recently finished her Ph.D. in Entomology at Rutgers University, New Jersey. Her research focused on honey bee toxicity via pesticides and has a passion to find better solutions for pest management that will compliment honey bee, environmental, & human health. Her research, in our bee program, focuses on Metarhizium as a biopesticide option or Varroa management.

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Kiersten Ritchie is interested in pollinators, agriculture, and honey bee reproductive biology.  Her research centers around differential sperm use by honey bee queens of different subspecies.  Kiersten received her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Washington where she took an entomology course that sparked her passion for honey bees and all insects.

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Riley caught his first swarm during his junior year of high school and was immediately hooked. He completed his B.Sc. from WSU while working as a technical assistant in the honey bee program. His research interests include Varroa and beekeeping management and improving pollinator forage.

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Taydin’s interest in insects has been lifelong, but his formal entomological education started in 2023. He joined the Hopkins lab after spending time working in pediatric medical research. Their work focuses on honey bee health, pest management, and ecology, and they are co-advised by Dr. David Crowder.

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Joey Rosario is majored in Biology and Fine Arts at WSU. She joined the honey bee program to learn more about bees and decided to further her education in entomology! Her research focuses on pest management for hive equipment storage including finding different regimens that are effective and honey bee-safe.

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Molly graduated from WSU in 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education; a program consisting of a B.S. in Agriculture and Food Systems integrated with a secondary education teaching certificate. 

Previously as an undergraduate she worked in the Hopkins lab on a project, collaborating with Fungi Perfecti, examining the ability of Reishi mushroom extract to prime honey bee immune systems. This led her to pursue her interest in studying the relationships between insects and fungi here at WSU. Now, she is researching the use of Metarhizium and other entomopathogenic fungi in honey bee IPM. This Metarhizium shows potential to be the first biocontrol for varroa mites. Her project will continue the development of this fungus as a Varroa treatment option, as well as look at other potential hosts for Metarhizium. 

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