Dr. Maloof Publishes "Robber Bees

SALISBURY, MD---Dr. Joan Maloof, a member of the biology faculty at Salisbury University, recently published on "robber bees" in the prestigious American Journal of Botany (AJB).

Maloof began her research on the effects of the nectar robbers in 1996 in Colorado. Her review of what we currently understand about these bees was published in the prestigious journal Ecology last year. That review, which contradicted Darwin's views on nectar robbers, caught the attention of the editors of Science News, who did a feature article on nectar robbers in the April 21, 2001 issue. Maloof's most recent article was published last week in AJB. The article describes how she, and the Earthwatch volunteers who assisted her, followed other pollinating bees around from flower to flower to see what effect the robber bees had on the pollinating bees.

During the summer weeks when Maloof is not in Colorado, she is searching for rare plants on the Eastern Shore for the Maryland Natural Heritage Program, a division of the Department of Natural Resources.

"Joan Maloof is rapidly becoming nationally known as an expert on insect-plant relationships, especially in pollination," said Dr. Tom Jones, dean of SU's Henson School of Science and Technology.