Dr. Ruben Alarcón, the pollination biologist at the USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, AZ, for the last two years, will be leaving his postdoctoral position in August to join the Biology Program at California State University Channel Islands, the newest CSU campus located in Ventura County, as an Assistant Professor. 

Dr. Alarcón earned his bachelor's degrees in Biology and Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, before completing his Ph.D. in Biology at the University of California, Riverside, where he studied plant-pollinator community dynamics in the mountains of Southern California and the Colorado Rockies.  He then spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona, studying native pollinators of Southern Arizona prior to joining the USDA.  While with the USDA he has studied the pollination biology of Lesquerella fendleri, a native mustard being developed as a drought-tolerant oilseed crop, and on the effects of providing supplemental protein-diets and sugar-syrup to colonies while they are in almonds.

Dr. Alarcón will continue collaborating with the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center on projects related to crop pollination and honeybee health.  In particular, Dr. Alarcón will begin evaluating the potential benefits of growing supplemental winter forage for honeybees, and the effects of fungicide exposure during almond pollination on honeybee foraging behavior, colony health, and on the pollination services they provide.  Dr. Alarcón has received a small grant from CSU Channel Islands to initiate his research program with the help of undergraduates, and has submitted a pre-proposal to California's Department of Food and Agriculture's Specialty Crop Block Grant Program in hopes of further funding this research.  In the next few years Dr Alarcón will expand his research program by mentoring Master's students interested in studying bees and pollination related projects. 

If you would like to contact Dr. Alarcón you can reach him at:
Ruben Alarcon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
California State University Channel Islands
One University Drive
Camarillo, CA 93012
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May 27, 2009