{
	"event_id": "1103563",
	"eventinstance_id": "4101034",
	"calendar": {
		"id": 1954,
		"title": "Biology Department Calendar",
		"slug": "biology-department-calendar",
		"url": "https://events.ucf.edu/calendar/1954/biology-department-calendar/"
	},
	"id": "4101034",
	"title": "Viral dynamics across managed and wild pollinators: Integrating immunity, ecology, and community structure",
	"subtitle": null,
	"description": "\u003Cp\u003EManaged honey bees (\u003Cem\u003EApis mellifera\u003C/em\u003E) are critical agricultural pollinators, yet colonies continue to experience persistently high losses across North America and Europe. These declines are driven by interacting stressors, including parasites, pathogens, nutrition, and landscape context. Viral pathogens, in particular, are key contributors to colony morbidity and mortality, but the processes governing variation in viral prevalence, load, and host response remain incompletely understood. This dissertation investigates how honey bee viral dynamics emerge from interactions among host immunity, colony condition, environmental context, and pollinator community structure. By integrating measures of viral prevalence, viral load, and immune gene expression across multiple biological scales, this dissertation examines how these factors structure disease patterns within and beyond managed colonies. Chapter 1 examines how management and landscape context influence viral trends and immune gene expression in honey bees, identifying ecological correlates of variation in host\u002Dpathogen interactions within a single species. Chapter 2 expands to a multi\u002Dhost framework, quantifying spatial patterns of viral presence in honey bees and non\u002D\u003Cem\u003EApis\u003C/em\u003E pollinators to evaluate community\u002Dlevel disease structure. Chapter 3 explores multi\u002Dyear temporal dynamics at a single site, comparing seasonal viral patterns in honey bees and non\u002D\u003Cem\u003EApis\u003C/em\u003E pollinators while relating these trends to honey bee immune activity and potential lagged host\u0026ndash\u003Bpathogen interactions. Together, this work demonstrates that viral dynamics in pollinator systems are structured, multi\u002Dscale processes shaped by ecological and physiological interactions. By characterizing viral and immune variation across spatial, temporal, and community contexts, this dissertation highlights the ecological processes shaping disease dynamics in pollinators.\u003C/p\u003E\u000A\u003Cp\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u000A\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAllison Malay\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u000A\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDr. Kenneth \u003C/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFedorka\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E",
	"location": "Bio 415: BIO 415",
	"location_url": "https://www.ucf.edu/location/biological\u002Dsciences\u002Dbuilding/",
	"virtual_url": null,
	"registration_link": null,
	"registration_info": null,
	"starts": "Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0400",
	"ends": "Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0400",
	"ongoing": "False",
	"category": "Speaker/Lecture/Seminar",
	"tags": ["Dissertation Defense"],
	"contact_name": "Dr. Kenneth Fedorka",
	"contact_phone": null,
	"contact_email": "kenneth.fedorka@ucf.edu",
	"url": "https://events.ucf.edu/event/4101034/viral-dynamics-across-managed-and-wild-pollinators-integrating-immunity-ecology-and-community-structure/"
}