Research Interests

• Division of Labor and Social Organization
• Dominance, Aggression and Reproductive Competition
• Neural Bases of Learning and Behavior

Current Projects

• Task specialization and brain structure in bumble bees
• Olfactory learning in social insects
• Learning and temperament in horses

Education

Ph.D.  1992.  University of Washington, Seattle.  Psychology—Animal Behavior.

B.S.  1981.  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  Psychology and Biology.

Recent Publications

Foster, R.L., Brunskill, A., Verdirame, D., and O’Donnell, S.  2004.  Reproductive physiology, dominance interactions, and division of labour among bumble bee workers.  Physiological Entomology 29: 1-8.

O'Donnell, S. and Foster, R.L.  2001.  Thresholds of response in nest thermoregulation by worker bumble bees, Bombus birarius nearcticus (Hymenoptera: Apidae).  Ethology 107(5): 387-400.

O'Donnell, S., Reichardt, M. and Foster, R.L. 2000.  Individual and colony factors in bumble bee division of labor (Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handl; Hymenoptera: Apidae).  Insectes Sociaux 47: 164-170.

Savoyard, J. L., Gamboa, G. J., Driscoll, D. L., and Foster, R. L. 1998.  The communicative meaning of body oscillations in the social wasp Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae).  Insectes Sociaux 45: 215-230.

Submitted Manuscripts

Gardner, K. E., Foster, R. L., and O'Donnell, S.  (2006). Division of nest thermoregulation tasks among bumble bee workers (Bombus huntii: Hymenoptera, Apidae). 

Recent Conference Presentations

Sattler, A.L., Foster, R.L., and Hannaford, S.  Jan 2005.  Odor Conditioning Success Differs Between Forager and Nurse Bumble Bees.  Oral Presentation (A.L. Sattler, entered for best student presentation), Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, San Diego.

Hannaford, S., Foster, R.L., Gibson, J., & Sattler, A.L.  Jan 2004.  Effects of Age and Caste on the Brains and Mushroom Bodies of the Bumblebee, Bombus huntii.  Poster Presentation, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, New Orleans.

Foster, R. L. and O'Donnell, S.  July 2001.  Worker reproductive conflict and division of labor in a simple society--bumble bees.  Invited talk at the Animal Behavior Society, Corvallis.  (Session Co-Coordinator).

Gardner, K. E. and Foster, R. L. July 2000.  Specialization in Thermoregulation in Bumble Bees.  Founder's Poster Competition Session, Honorable Mention.  Animal Behavior Society, Atlanta.