Annalena Becker

Research interest

• Pollination Ecology and Conservation Biology
• Chemical and Molecular Ecology of Plant-Pollinator Interaction
• Floral Biology

I am passionate about the conservation of pollinators, which includes understanding their ecology, distribution, and the factors that sustain their populations. Recently, I explored detecting pollinators and flower-visiting insects using environmental DNA (eDNA) and metabarcoding techniques.

My current research focuses on investigating how the chemical composition of pollen affects bee nutrition, immunity, and disease resistance. My PhD project aims to identify pollen-derived molecules that mediate pathogen virulence in wild bees, as part of the Biodiversity Exploratories project (https://www.biodiversity-exploratories.de) and in collaboration with Ghent University, funded by the DFG.