
World Wonderer
Over a Zoom call from Switzerland, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences alum Consuelo De Moraes shows a video of a bumblebee nibbling on a leaf in a semicircular motion, a behavior that accelerates the flowering process when pollen is scarce. As she explains the movements of the bumblebee, she is wide-eyed and fascinated. This insect behavior is one of the latest discoveries for De Moraes, a chemical ecologist and professor who directs the Laboratory of Biocommunication and Entomology at ETH Zürich.