Rachel is a Eric & Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Fellow at the Department of Biology.
She received her PhD in Biology from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2019. Her research is in the fields of insect sensory neuroscience and neuroethology to understand how neurons detect sensory cues, process this information, and produce appropriate behavioural reactions.
With the Oxford Bee Lab, based at the Wytham Field Station, she is interested in understanding what bees can taste in floral nectar and how bees use taste to guide pollination and foraging choices. Using electrophysiology and behaviour, she has explored how bees interact with pesticides and other toxic compounds in nectar, and whether bees can differentiate sugars by taste.