JXB Series: How and why do bees buzz? Implications for buzz pollination

Prof. Mario Vallejo-Marin

Uppsala University

Title of talk: Buzz pollination as mechanical plant-bee interaction  

Mario Vallejo-Marin is an evolutionary biologist. His research focuses on understanding how new species evolve, how organisms can adapt to rapid environmental change, and how plants and pollinators evolve together. Vallejo-Marin has been captivated by studying a striking type of pollination called buzz pollination, where bees use powerful vibrations or "buzzes" to remove pollen from flowers.

He studied Biology at the National University (UNAM) in Mexico City, and then moved to the US to pursue a PhD in Biology at Duke University. After the PhD, Mario spent two years at the University of Toronto doing a postdoc on the evolution of plant reproductive strategies.

He got his first permanent academic job at the University of Stirling, Scotland where he lived for 14 years. He has recently joined the Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University, Sweden where, together with collaborators, he is using microrobots to study how bees and buzz-pollinated flowers interact.