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Michael Orr
​
​
FIELD TO LAB

Toward a new synthesis of
​natural history &
modern methodologies

Report new sandstone bee nest sites here!

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I am currently a Chinese Academy of Sciences President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr. Chao-Dong Zhu in Beijing.
My highly-integrative research program centers on a fundamental, multi-faceted question:

Where do bees live, what determines their distributions (e.g., traits, floral hosts), and how do such constraints influence individuals, populations, and species?

NEWS
Nov. 2020: Some news coverage of my new paper on global bee distribution: BBC, CNN, Smithsonian, Xinhua
March 2020: Back and safe in Beijing after good visits to Dr. Lucas Garibaldi in Argentina; Dr. Paul Williams, Dr. Alfried Vogler, and Dr. Hauke Koch in the UK; and the Asian Pollinator Initiative meeting in Kolkata, India. Stay healthy, everyone.
6-8 Dec. 2019: Co-organized Systematic Biology Forum in Beijing. 
Aug. 2019: Second field season completed, this time near Baima Shan and Mei Li Shan in Yunnan. Keep an eye out for a new bumble bee genome! 

Selected recent papers: 
Orr 2020: Current Biology: Global patterns and drivers of bee distribution
Orr 2020: Nature Eco. Evol.: Taxonomy must engage with new technologies and evolve to face future challenges
Orr 2020: Megataxa: Three questions: How can taxonomists survive and thrive worldwide?
Hughes 2020: TREE: Horizon Scan of the Belt and Road Initiative
Harvey 2020: Nature Eco. Evol.:  International scientists formulate a roadmap for insect conservation and recovery
Zhang 2020: Molec. Ecol. Res.: Streamlining universal single‐copy orthologue and ultraconserved element design: A case study in Collembola
Zhou 2020: Genome Biol. Evol.: The first draft genome of the plasterer bee Colletes gigas (Hymenoptera: Colletidae: Colletes)


Left: The Anthophora pueblo system. Ascosphaera picture credit to Amber Tripodi.
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  • Home
  • Bio
  • Research
    • Anthophorini
    • Desert Bees
    • Integrative Taxonomy
    • Phenology
    • Nesting Biology
    • Sandstone Bees
  • Publications
  • Identifications
  • CV
  • Outreach