Anupreksha Jain

PhD Student

College of Agricultural & Life Sciences | Department of Entomology | Crall Lab

Hometown: Kota, India

Anupreksha is an entomology graduate student at UW-Madison, where she works with Dr. James Crall on global change and pollination ecology in agroecosystems. Her research uses computer vision based tools to investigate the mechanistic effects of anthropogenic stressors such as pesticide exposure and drought on pollinator behavior, health, and efficacy. She is originally from India, and earned a BS in Biological Sciences from Cornell University.
Ms. Jain’s talks can also be given in Hindi.

Talks:

Using AI to study bumble bees
Most flowering plants rely on insects such as bumble bees for pollination, but these insects are gradually disappearing. To understand why, we created technology that automates the observation of their nesting and foraging behavior, allowing us to cheaply collect vast amounts of subtle data on various threats so we can mitigate them.
Pesticides and Pollinators
Most plants, including crops, need insects like bees to pollinate them, but ironically, these insects are disappearing due to human activities like agriculture. This talk will explain how various pesticides harm bees, even at trace amounts much lower than lethal levels, even compounds intended to hurt weeds rather than insects.