​Hi, I'm Jen Schlauch!

I am a second year PhD student and NSF graduate research fellow in Toby Hammer's Lab at the University of California, Irvine (Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). I study solitary bee microbiomes, science communication, and conservation. 

​My thesis currently focuses on the bee communities of coastal wetlands, and the host and geographic drivers of solitary bee microbiomes.

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 worked jobs in Southern California, Maryland, and southwestern Costa Rica, studying pollinator and hymenopteran communities, art, and scientific communication. 

photo by Alex Wild