- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The virtual seminar will begin at 4:10 on Zoom. Access this Google form to connect to Zoom.
"I'll be presenting an overview of work that integrates community ecology, foraging biology, and population genomics to understand ecosystem function, with an emphasis on mutualistic interactions between plants and pollinators," she says. "I'll also explore the impacts of human land use on these species interactions and their connection to a variety of ecosystem services."
Jha, an associate professor, investigates "ecological and evolutionary processes from genes to landscapes, to quantify global change impacts on plant-animal interactions, movement ecology, and the provisioning of ecosystem services." Specializing in the fields of landscape genetics, population ecology, and foraging ecology, she examines how landscape composition influences gene flow processes, foraging patterns, and population viability for plants and animals. (See Jha lab)
"Our work," she writes on her website, "has provided insight into the environmental drivers of pollinator diversity, has revealed the complex and dynamic nature of wild pollinator foraging, and has exposed critical urbanization and elevation barriers to plant and pollinator gene flow across historic and contemporary time periods."
Jha recently appeared on Science Friday, Natural Public Radio, discussing "The Secret Life of Tiny Bees." She co-authored "Adding Landscape Genetics and Individual Traits to the Ecosystem Function Paradigm Reveals the Importance of Species Functional Breadth," published Nov. 28, 2017 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"About 90 percent of all bees are actually solitary," she told host Ira Flatow. "So despite kind of the public impression that all bees are like honey bees and bumble bees, we have a lot of these bees that are living on their own."
Most solitary bees live underground, she said. "So they nest under the soil. We also have a lot of bees that nest in stems of trees or in rotting logs. So there's a lot of diversity in where these bees live, and also the kind of social versus solitary lifestyle they maintain."
Jha joined the University of Texas faculty in 2011. She previously served at UC Berkeley as a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, from 2009 to 2011. Prior, she worked as a graduate research and teaching assistant in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Shalene Jha
Jha holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from Rice University, magna cum laude, 2004. She obtained her doctorate from the University of Michigan in 2009, where she focused on ecology and evolutionary biology. Postdoctoral work in ecology and population genetics followed at UC Berkeley.
Agricultural Extension specialist Ian Grettenberg, seminar host, coordinates the department's winter seminars. For technical information on the virtual seminar, contact him at imgrettenberger@ucdavis.edu.