It has been widely demonstrated that urbanization greatly biodiversity of macroorganisms, typically by reducing overall species richness and increasing the abundance of a few species that thrive in urban environments. Microoranisms also experience urbanization and their diversity may also be impacted, but fewer studies have assessed this.

In conjunction with Dr. Davida Smyth and her students at the New School, the lab will be looking at the diversity of microorganims in the guts of Apis mellifera, the European honeybee living in New York City and comparing that to those living in suburban and rural habitats in Westchester County. We hope to eventually expand this to native pollinators and other species of insects.