I am a graduate student in the Gordon Lab at Stanford University. I am interested in social insect chemical communication; specifically, I am studying the role and properties of cuticular hydrocarbons involved in ant nestmate recognition.
Ants form colonies composed of hundreds to millions of workers that work cohesively without central control. Individual ants base their task decisions on encounters with nestmates. These encounters involve chemical communication. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are of particular importance because they are directly involved in discrimination among nestmates and task allocation.
My dissertation research investigates how CHCs change, the function of CHCs on the nest, and the relative importance of CHC classes in ant nestmate recognition.
H.T. Kao, S. Sturgis, R. DeSalle, J. Tsai, D. Davis, D.F. Gruber, V.A. Pieribone.
2007. Dynamic Regulation of Fluorescent Proteins from a Single Species of Coral.
Marine Biotechnology (NY) Vol 9(6): 733-
K.D. LeJeune, K. N. Suding, S. Sturgis, A. Scott, and T.R. Seastedt. 2005. Biological
control insect use of fertilized and unfertilized diffuse knapweed (Centaurea diffusa
Lamarck) in a Colorado grassland. Environ. Entomol. 34(1): 225-
Department of Biological Sciences
371 Serra Mall, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
ssturgis (at) stanford (dot) edu
