Relayed from the North American IUSSI Section:

Honey bee positions (3 different ones!)

a. Postdoc at UNC-Greensboro with Kaira Wagoner

The University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) has been awarded funding from NCInnovation to hire a Post-Doctoral Researcher specializing in honey bee microbiology and molecular biology. The Post-Doc will lead an innovative research project focused on honey bee gut microbiomes and their impact on colony health and behavior. We are looking forward to opening this position in early 2026. Please feel free to share this opportunity within relevant networks. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please email your questions and/or CV to Kaira Wagoner kmwagone@uncg.edu.

b. Postdoc at USDA-ARS Unit in Stoneville, MS with Pierre Laue and Weiqiang Zhang

See attached. The Pollinator Health in Southern Crop Ecosystem Research Unit of the AgriculturalResearch Service is searching for a postdoctoral research scientist to broadly address the impacts of honey bee stressors at cellular and landscape levels. The successful candidate will collaborate with Drs. Pierre Lau and Weiqiang Zhang to determine the mechanistic effect of bee stressors using honey bee embryonic cell lines and bees, test novel therapeutics aimed at improving bee health, analyze longitudinal colony monitoring data to identify and disentangle interacting stressors, and develop a proactive framework to predict and help prevent future mass colony loss events. For more information, contact pierre.lau@usda.gov

Lau and Zhang ORISE postdoc listing finalDownload

c. Field technician at USDA-ARS Baton Rouge Bee Lab

There is a new ORISE Technician position open in my lab at the USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Unit. This is a guaranteed one year position, with additional time contingent on performance and (likely) funding. The position will entail team and independent work conducting research with honey bees. We have several ongoing and new projects which primarily center around honey bee health, pest and pathogen management by  honey bees and humans, and further collaborative research efforts. The listing can be found here: https://www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/USDA-ARS-SEA-2025-0151. Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions (elizabeth.m.walsh@usda.gov) 

Relayed from the North American IUSSI Section:

Graduate Student Position in Mizumoto Lab at Auburn University

The Mizumoto Lab at Auburn University is seeking a highly motivated graduate student (M.S. or Ph.D. track) to join their research team starting in Fall 2026.

Please see the attached pdf:

Two postdocs in the social evolution of African wasps

Dr Patrick Kennedy (University of Bristol, UK) and Professor Dustin Rubenstein (Columbia University, USA) are looking for two excellent field biologists to work on the social evolution of cooperation and conflict in Africa's most familiar wasps - the genus Belonogaster. You will undertake fieldwork across Africa, and you will be based at the University of Bristol's Social Strategy Lab in the UK. Apply by 11th January 2026.

1. Postdoctoral Field Manager ("Quantifying Hamilton's rule in the wild")

   You will help to coordinate an international field team spanning three African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, and South Africa), investigating the evolution of cooperation and conflict by running field experiments with social wasps across Africa. Working with in-country field teams, you will collect field data on costs and benefits of cooperation in a powerful wild system.

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   Find out more here.
   

2. Postdoctoral Research Associate ("Understanding the evolution of castes")

   
   

   You will investigate the evolution of behavioural castes in the social insects (‘queens’ and ‘workers’). You will run field experiments with social wasps in three African countries: Cameroon, Kenya, and South Africa. You will join an international team of postdocs, PhD students, and local field assistants, and combine a diverse range of techniques – including behavioural experiments in the field, CT scanning, and bioinformatics.

   
   

   Find out more here.

Relayed from the North American IUSSI Section:

Honey bee circadian biology, University of Kentucky

Dr. Michael Tackenberg (Biology) and Dr. Clare Rittschof (Entomology) are recruiting a PhD student for a collaborative project involving honey bee circadian biology and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Kentucky. The candidate will matriculate through the Department of Biology and participate in a recently funded project investigating how the honey bee nervous system integrates combinations of day length and temperature cues to regulate visual sensitivity and activity patterns in changing environments. A competitive candidate will have some background in molecular biology, neuroscience, and/or animal behavior, as well as strong quantitative skills and interests. Participation in field work activities will be required, but no experience working with insects and/or honey bees is necessary to be selected for this position.

Dr. Tackenberg is a circadian neuroscientist whose research examines how genetic, molecular, and environmental factors impact circadian rhythms in a variety of study systems. Dr. Rittschof’s research incorporates perspectives from behavioral ecology, neuroscience, physiology, and genomics to study how environmental conditions and social interactions influence behaviors and life history characteristics in honey bees.

Please contact Dr. Clare Rittschof (clare.rittschof@uky.edu) and Dr. Michael Tackenberg (michael.tackenberg@uky.edu) to discuss your interests and fit and visit the UK Biology Graduate Program page for more information about graduate studies and how to apply.

Relayed from the North American IUSSI Section:

PhD position(s) in paper wasp social processing

The Jernigan lab at Wake Forest University (WFU) is recruiting PhD students for Fall 2026. The Jernigan lab studies the neurobiology, behavior, and development of social processing in Polistes fuscatus paper wasps. These wasps can recognize and discriminate individual social partners via color patterning present on their faces. Graduate student projects will be flexible depending upon the desires of the student and are open to any aspect of animal behavior or neuroscience. Currently funded projects focus on the impact of experience and development on behavior and the neural circuits processing social stimuli.

WFU is located in beautiful Winston-Salem, NC, USA. Winston-Salem is an affordable city with a moderate climate, easy access to nature, arts, and the amenities of a metropolitan city. Graduate students receive guaranteed full stipend support (5 years including summer funding and healthcare). The Biology Department and graduate program cover the full range of biology with 8 faculty (4 recent hires) specializing in the fields of neuroscience and behavior with plans for this number to expand in coming years. The deadline for graduate student applications is December 15th, 2025 and you can find more information about the program here: https://biology.wfu.edu/graduate/.

If interested in applying, please email Chris Jernigan (chris.jernigan@wfu.edu) with (1) a short introduction including your research interests and motivation for joining the lab and (2) your CV. Please share this ad If you have a trainee who may be interested.

PhD and Postdoc Positions – Cockroach Social Evolution

The Roach Lab at Ben-Gurion University (Israel) is recruiting one PhD student and two postdoctoral researchers to study how nutrition and temperature shape the evolution of sociality in cockroaches.

See the attached PDF for full details.

For any additional information, do not hesitate to contact Sofia Bouchebti at sofia.bouchebti@gmail.com.

For Early-Career African Researchers - a field course run by the British Ecological Society:

Ecology masterclass: Designing projects in the field

15-26 October, The Mpala Research Centre, Kenya

"Set in the heart of the Kenyan savannah, this exciting 10-day course provides practical training on how to design projects in the field and is a valuable foundation for building a career in ecology and conservation."

Teaching Level: MSc

Applications close on Friday, 15 August 2025.

https://tropical-biology.org/ecology-masterclass-2025/?dm_i=7RJK,13L2G,3XV6DO,2VZVV,1