​Hi, I'm Jen Schlauch Saiyawong!

I am a fifth year PhD candidate and NSF graduate research fellow in Toby Hammer's Lab at the University of California, Irvine (Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). My work is in conservation of biodiversity, symbioses, pollination, and science communication. 

​My thesis focuses on native bee conservation: bee communities of coastal wetlands, the host and geographic drivers of solitary bee microbiomes, and prototyping artificial nest boxes for bumble bees.

I graduated from UT Austin  with a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, class of '19, where I researched Polistes wasp gut microbiomes and Pheidole ant parasitoids. I spent most of my time at UT in lab or at the Insect Collection. Since then, I have worked in Southern California, Southwest Arizona, Maryland, and southwestern Costa Rica, studying pollinator and hymenopteran communities, science communication, and art. I believe creativity, curiosity, and compassion can guide science, from how we choose research projects to how we share and synthesize results. 

You will not find generative AI on this site. All art is created by myself unless otherwise labelled. 

photo by Alex Wild