April Monthly Meeting

Juliana has a Ph. D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University and is currently Associate Professor of Apiculture in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University. She is an active member of the Texas Beekeepers Association and has spoken to dozens of beekeeping associations across the USA and internationally.

Juliana's presentation will cover basic biology of varroa mites and their dispersal phase, how varroa parasitize both castes (worker and drone) of the Western honey bee but only up to a certain point. She will also explain how this behavior differs from varroa's behavior in its original host apis cerana, the Asian honey bee. Juliana will also share how varroa has an observed behavior of seeking out nurse bees and will detail her research on the nurse visitation rate and how it increases varroa invasion rates.

Born in Colombia, South America, Juliana obtained a B.S. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution in 2014 from the University of California, San Diego. In 2010 she obtained a Ph. D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

She was an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow from 2010 to 2013 at North Carolina State University. In January 2013, Juliana became Assistant Professor of Apiculture in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station, TX.  She was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2018.

Her research program focuses on the biological and environmental factors that affect the reproductive quality of honey bees, the behavioral ecology and population genetics of feral colonies, and the quality and diversity of honey bee nutrition in a changing landscape.