https://www.annadornhaus.net/teaching daily 0.75 2023-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1591195421970-I7EY86ZONEE5J8SJI295/josefin-WS5yjFjycNY-unsplash.jpg Teaching - ECOL250: How science works and what it says: A guide for the uninitiated on how to make science work for you How do you recognize (good) science? How do you find out what science says about a question relevant for you? And why should we believe science more than anything (anyone) else, including ‘common sense’? This course is about truth and falsehoods and how to (better) tell them apart, and how to evaluate information sources and read them. Not currently taught. 3 credits. UA online and Main Campus course. Open to all majors, no prereqs. Freshmen encouraged. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1605026983399-DS99YG0U6NPFJA1H1Q2W/student-whiteboard.jpg Teaching - ECOL419/519: Introduction to Modeling in Biology Do we really need modeling, and what is it good for? Neither empiricists nor modelers often think about what models can actually contribute to understanding the real world - it may be more, or less, or different, than you think. This course teaches you how to read scientific papers containing theory/models; how to evaluate them; and how to link theory insights with empirical ones. Co-taught with Joanna Masel. !!!!Fall 2023!!!!. 3 credits. In-person course for graduate students and advanced undergrads. No math/programming pre-requirements. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1605544925662-KOXJE6EJ5QLHMF55PZ3N/Keys_Dornhaus-4789.jpg Teaching - ECOL195C: Research Methods in Biology: How to get the most out of your research experience This course helps you find a research experience, understand why you are doing what you are doing, and understand the role of teamwork. Also teaches basic statistics using R and presentation and other professional skills. Note that this course requires a concurrent lab experience, e.g. signing up for 3 credits of Directed Research, 10 hours of FWS, or similar. Not currently taught. 1 credit. Open to all majors, no prereqs. Freshmen encouraged. https://www.annadornhaus.net/publications daily 0.75 2024-12-14 https://www.annadornhaus.net/lab-news daily 0.75 2020-04-14 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/t/5e961c400254160d797e2ae1/1582089130153/josefin-WS5yjFjycNY-unsplash.jpg Lab News https://www.annadornhaus.net/lab-news/blog-post-1-by3lh-n8zhg monthly 0.5 2020-02-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c5c85d60b77bd1e53f02c0d/1580753643999-75FB14NDX0XFF4O4Q4S9/ACityABuzz.jpg Lab News - Blog post 1 Male Bumblebee. Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation. https://www.annadornhaus.net/lab-news/blog-post-2-bjf8n-f9874 monthly 0.5 2020-02-17 https://www.annadornhaus.net/lab-news/blog-post-3-x373x-b84zl monthly 0.5 2020-02-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c5c85d60b77bd1e53f02c0d/1550593277701-OPZH9DBH1SE4GQL4H0VS/A+metallic+green+sweat+bee+sits+in+a+case+among+other+species+at+Associate+Professor+Gerardo+Camilo%27s+Saint+Louis+University+lab. Lab News - Blog post 3 A metallic green sweat bee sits in a case among other species at Associate Professor Gerardo Camilo's Saint Louis University lab. Credit: Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio https://www.annadornhaus.net/who-we-are daily 0.75 2023-01-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1591195083484-6EJV9FVLLYFH5SD38QTJ/Dornhaus_3ants_white-01.png Who we are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1589686882737-I5AQKKLXDVD4LN054URW/Screen+Shot+2020-05-07+at+10.00.58+AM.png Who we are - Meet the PI Dr. Anna Dornhaus I am a professor in the EEB Department at the University of Arizona. I want everyone to be able to see the complexity and beauty of the biological world around us. Enjoy exploring this site! My department webpage https://www.annadornhaus.net/the-cricket-project daily 0.75 2022-10-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604033063987-7D6LW4BRAGKTOTW55B62/image-asset.jpeg Cricket Project - Cricket food & water Food and water sources for crickets can be commercially available food or pieces of fruits 7 vegetables. Supplies will easily last 8 days, although you might have to refresh water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1605548210322-UCWLU9W5ZTBIUFE8OIRC/AD-021.jpg Cricket Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604032923308-DBJPZDU9SLNDM29N682L/AD-004.jpg Cricket Project - Rolls of toilet paper We will make little ‘houses’ for the crickets with these - crickets love cardboard! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604033290033-6U2ALC57KP57SLIAB9NH/AD-017.jpg Cricket Project - Markers Each kid will get an individually marked cricket that they can observe throughout the study. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604032952428-3LE5BWCSJS13OADZNATN/AD-028.jpg Cricket Project - 1 cricket carrier To put the crickets in. These can also be purchased from local pet stores and re-used for many experiments! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604033345085-DXKN4W7B6G369VJ4MXCB/AD-028.jpg Cricket Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604033162848-FYA542EED5TA1KG6VQDJ/image-asset.jpeg Cricket Project - Worksheets We have worksheets ready to go for students to investigate cricket personality; we also have a ton of materials on insects, observation, and other topics, ideally suited to 1-5th grade. Check out our resource collection in this folder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604033229436-HPTHP7YOHEXU405YX6K7/AD-066.jpg Cricket Project - 4 house crickets Acheta domestica - crickets are easy to obtain from local pet stores. Note this one is marked yellow with markers (below) for individual identification. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604032221363-NG7SCWWDGXEZZE7LBUY5/AD-045.jpg Cricket Project https://www.annadornhaus.net/science-truth daily 0.75 2023-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1599146909155-9OIOBXFA1T7980GHUYYZ/Dornhaus_3ants-01.png Science & Truth https://www.annadornhaus.net/welcome daily 1.0 2022-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604029631500-SQ3C750YHWHBML4WSZ6S/Credit+Michelle+Dillon+%2F+Impact+Media+Lab Welcome https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1589313070913-JRE5SHN64E0DKN1UIFWN/image-asset.jpeg Welcome https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1590521331333-5Y8VWZZD7QHXD4GXVH7I/i-rzbXQkM-X2.jpg Welcome https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604029556451-1ES4XT07SGKVNCFA95UB/150848831.jpg Welcome https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604031233278-GU3FFN02SS4TUHYBS1BY/Ant+photo+with+lines.png Welcome https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1590948823388-Q0DDG58RPMJF3IX2H09F/Screen+Shot+2020-05-07+at+10.01.07+AM.png Welcome - About us We are the Social Insect Lab We are students and researchers at the University of Arizona who use social insect colonies, including ants and bees, to understand complex social systems. Our work helps us understand problem solving in engineered systems, biological networks, and human societies. Learn more https://www.annadornhaus.net/research daily 0.75 2023-02-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1599145630226-1LLMBDCIAJCB7BRPB0L1/Dornhaus_3ants-01.png Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/fff59f39-466f-41cf-bc0c-eecf1b25d34f/Kelemen+bb+field+lab+worker+variation.jpg Research - Bumble bee workers vary a lot in size - including in the field That bumble bee workers vary widely in size has been known for a while; however we show here that workers vary in size a lot more than queens or males reared at the same time in the same nest, indicating that worker variation is ‘deliberate’ - ie. adaptive or at least not under the same selection as that of sexuals. We also show for the first time that this is true for both field and lab colonies, and that workers in field colonies vary in size just as much as those in lab colonies do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/ad9efd88-653f-4332-9d27-7fa882c44f4d/DonaldsonMatasci+turtle+ant+abstract.jpg Research - Focus your defense on the assets that have a chance of surviving Turtle ant soldiers block nest entrances with their disk-shaped head; however, blocking larger entrances, while possible with more soldiers, becomes less effective. If defense has little chance of succeeding because of high level of threat, ants concentrate their defenses and thus give up defense altogether in some sites. The ant colonies flexible allocation of defenses among multiple nests and nest entrances is shown to agree with optimality model predictions in most cases; however, the lack of global information and coordination among soldiers may also lead to non-optimal allocation, especially when cavities differ in defensibility (entrance size). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1084c09e-b9db-4776-a605-beecc0a5a69f/Popp+meandering+fig+section.jpg Research - Ants meander systematically to search. As humans, when we search for something (e.g. a lost car key in the grass), we tend to go systematically (e.g. in a spiral or back-and-forth pattern). This is mathematically most effective and has been used by theoreticians and computer scientists as a model for search generally. HOWEVER, this really doesn't work well at all when there are obstacles or navigational uncertainty - i.e. if you imagine a bigger scale, like wandering around a large wood, small mistakes in turning angles will quickly set you on a completely different, and inefficient path, where you miss large areas or cover the same ground twice. Most literature on animal movement, on the other hand, assumes animals do a purely random (as opposed to systematic) walk/search. Correlated random walk models are standard (correlated just means walking forward more often than turning around, but it's still with random angles and no plan from one step to the next). Here, we analyze exceptionally long stretches of freely moving animals (ants in this case), and find they actually do something that may be a smart compromise between the two: systematic elements (i.e. meandering left to right, i.e. each step is not independent of the last) combined with randomness (noise in angles and random walking at a larger scale). This might provide a uniquely efficient and robust method of searching a large area and has not been previously described in any animal (there are some cases of well-described systematic search, see introduction in the paper). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1589390909687-B2BSDX3Q31VX7C0N585H/Temnothorax+rugatulus-by-Alex-Wild.png Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1590977025449-7VFY62ZSCS53A9YR1ZAU/ants+marching.png Research https://www.annadornhaus.net/mentoring daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/bc74afc6-f007-461e-aecb-e715abb9b28d/AD-111.jpg Mentoring - Post-docs Become an independent scientist: set a career direction, build a research niche, expand your publication list, make a name for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/a60ba3de-41c2-47b1-8804-9841f32c1c1c/AD-130.jpg Mentoring - Graduate students Developing your own project and bringing it to its conclusion: scientific publication. Start to lead a team, explore a topic broadly and deeply, and build a professional network. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/5afca652-abe9-481b-bbf7-73c8436722bd/Keys_Dornhaus-4789.jpg Mentoring - Undergraduate students Stepping from schoolwork into real work. Applied and reflected understanding of how science works, and training in basic techniques. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1604090168372-HN7PRSUY0C5KR10K5OBV/AD-091.jpg Mentoring https://www.annadornhaus.net/lab-resources daily 0.75 2022-10-19 https://www.annadornhaus.net/current-research-questions daily 0.75 2020-05-12 https://www.annadornhaus.net/current-research-questions/how-can-we-learn-from-social-insects monthly 0.5 2020-05-12 https://www.annadornhaus.net/current-research-questions/can-bumble-bees-predict-the-weather monthly 0.5 2020-05-12 https://www.annadornhaus.net/current-research-questions/how-are-flexibility-and-robustness-achieved-and-do-they-trade-off-with-efficiency monthly 0.5 2020-05-12 https://www.annadornhaus.net/e-overview-gallerylight daily 0.75 2020-11-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1605024611334-QAI07RYM77AV4B3JZSRE/blue.png E - overview - Teaching Enabling students to reach their life goals and become responsible citizens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1605024611334-QAI07RYM77AV4B3JZSRE/blue.png E - overview - Teaching Enabling students to reach their life goals and become responsible citizens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1590543930946-BINFCH8U4N43WI8VK1HZ/Screen+Shot+2020-05-12+at+12.08.18+PM.png E - overview - Teaching Enabling students to achieve their life goals and become responsible citizens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1605024440283-26UY48HBMONMG04Z2OAW/image-asset.jpeg E - overview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e961c3d0254160d797e29a4/1590421694516-5NLTC8B1BHNNWCLGR6JH/image-asset.jpeg E - overview https://www.annadornhaus.net/engage daily 0.75 2023-05-08 https://www.annadornhaus.net/pubs-intro-texture2 daily 0.75 2020-05-26 https://www.annadornhaus.net/past-lab-members daily 0.75 2020-05-20 https://www.annadornhaus.net/c-calendar-blue daily 0.75 2020-09-16 https://www.annadornhaus.net/r-questions-purple daily 0.75 2020-06-24 https://www.annadornhaus.net/l-postsecondary-students-dark daily 0.75 2020-06-24 https://www.annadornhaus.net/m-expectations-blue daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://www.annadornhaus.net/m-expectations2-beige daily 0.75 2020-06-24 https://www.annadornhaus.net/pubs-by-themes-longform daily 0.75 2022-10-24