Danforth, Bryan Nicholas
Professor
My work falls within the field of systematics and evolution. In particular, I am interested in the evolution of insects and how we can reconstruct the phylogeny of insects using molecular and morphological data. Given that insects comprise over 75% of the species of animals on earth, they are an extremely important group both ecologically and economically.
research
research and scholarship focus
My research focuses on the biology and evolutionary history of the bees. We use a combination of morphological and molecular data to reconstruct the evolutionary history of bees and how this relates to the diversification of angiosperm (flowering) plants.
primary investigator of
- DISSERTATION RESEARCH: EVOLUTION OF CLEPTOPARASITISM IN APID BEES (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) | Research Grant
- PHYLOGENY, HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY, AND HOST-PLANT EVOLUTION OF THE FIDELIINI (HYMENOPTERA: APOIDEA) | Research Grant
- PHYLOGENY AND HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE PRIMITIVE BEE FAMILY COLLETIDAE | Research Grant
- PHYLOGENY OF APIDAE (HYMENOPTERA) WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE EVOLUTION AND ANTIQUITY OF EUSOCIALITY | Research Grant
- REVSYS: PHYLOGENY AND SYSTEMATICS OF THE MEGACHILID BEES | Research Grant
research areas
- biodiversity | collaborative research area (CALS)
- ecology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- entomology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- genomics | collaborative research area (CALS)
submitted impact statement
- Phylogeny and ecology of bees in New York state | 2007 Impact statement
- Phylogeny and ecology of bees in New York state | 2006 Impact statement
- Phylogeny and ecology of bees in New York state | 2005 Impact statement
- Phylogeny and ecology of bees in New York State | 2004 Impact statement
affiliations
faculty appointment in
- Entomology (ENTOM) | Cornell department
member of graduate field
- Entomology | graduate field
other Cornell affiliations
- Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics | research and educational resource center
- Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC) | museum collection
- Evolutionary Genomics | NLSI/Genomics focus area
teaching
teaching focus
I teach Alien Empire: Bizarre Biology of Bugs (Entom 201) as well Insect Phylogeny and Evolution (Entom 331/332). Alien Empire provides a broad overview of insect biology to undergraduate students. Insect Phylogeny and Evolution provides in in-depth look at insect evolution, diversity, and phylogeny for advanced undergraduates and graduate students
teaches
- ENTOM 3310 - Insect Phylogeny and Evolution (TR 11:40:AM-12:55:PM) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 3311 - Insect Phylogeny and Evolution Laboratory (W 01:25:PM-04:25:PM) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 4970 - Individual Study in Entomology (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 4980 - Undergraduate Teaching (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 4990 - Undergraduate Research in Entomology (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 7070 - Individual Study for Graduate Students (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 7090 - Teaching Entomology (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 8900 - Master's-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 9900 - Doctoral-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- ENTOM 2010 - Alien Empire: Bizarre Biology of Bugs (MW 10:10:AM-11:00:AM) | spring 2009 class
- ENTOM 2011 - Alien Empire: Bizarre Biology of Bugs (MW 10:10:AM-11:00:AM) | spring 2009 class
- ENTOM 4970 - Individual Study in Entomology (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- ENTOM 4980 - Undergraduate Teaching (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- ENTOM 7070 - Individual Study for Graduate Students (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- ENTOM 7090 - Teaching Entomology (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- ENTOM 8900 - Master's-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- ENTOM 9900 - Doctoral-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
service
outreach focus
My work has implications for plant pollination biology and therefore is of importance to maintaining healthy pollinator populations for native and agricultural crops in NY State.
event host
background
educational background
- Ph.D., University of Kansas (Entomology), 1991
- M.S., University of Kansas (Entomology), 1987
- B.A., B.S., Duke University (Zoology), 1984
featured in
- 100-million-year-old discovery pushes bees' evolutionary history back 35 million years | Cornell Chronicle feature
- The dating game: Social behavior of sweat bees evolved with Earth's warming a mere 20 million years ago, Cornell study finds | Cornell Chronicle feature
publications
Keywords: apoidea, bee biology, bees, biodiversity, evolution, evolution and systematics, genomics, insect ecology, molecular evolution, phylogeny, pollination