Brooke Donzelli

Professional and Research Experience:  

-Undergraduate research Assistant, Adler Lab, University of Massachusetts Amherst (September 2019-May 2022) 

- Laboratory Technician, Winfree Lab, Rutgers University (April- August 2021)  

-Senior Thesis, Adler Lab, University of Massachusetts Amherst (September-May 2022) 

PhD Student Brooke Donzelli graduated from The University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2022 with a B.S. in Biology.  Brooke gained an interest in plant/pollinator/pathogen interactions during her undergraduate career studying under Dr. Lynn Adler at the Adler Lab as an undergraduate research assistant while assisting Dr. Rosemary Malfi with her experiment studying the medicinal effects of sunflower pollen on the Crithidia bombi pathogen in Bombus impatiens. Brooke gained a deeper interest in Native bee taxonomy and pollination ecology while working as a laboratory technician for PhD Canidate Lucia Weinman at the Winfree Lab. Here she helped Lucia with her research using pollen analysis of native bees to study their diets and the plants they pollinate. Brooke then completed her undergraduate thesis under Dr. Lynn Adler and Dr. Gordon Fitch, researching the monoterpenes of the plant Monarda fistulosa asking if they reduce the Crithidia bombi pathogen in Bombus impatiens. At the Strange Lab, Brooke’s research will focus on impacts of disease, pathogen prevalence, and transmission on wild and solitary bees.