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She is now a professor at the University of Otago.<ref name="bio"/> Her current research interests span from understanding the brain and behaviour of [[Honey bee|honey bees]], development genetics, as well as learning and memory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/zoology/staff/otago008927.html|title=Professor Alison Mercer|website=www.otago.ac.nz|language=en-nz|access-date=2018-07-26}}</ref>
She is now a professor at the University of Otago.<ref name="bio"/> Her current research interests span from understanding the brain and behaviour of [[Honey bee|honey bees]], development genetics, as well as learning and memory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/zoology/staff/otago008927.html|title=Professor Alison Mercer|website=www.otago.ac.nz|language=en-nz|access-date=2018-07-26}}</ref>


She has repeatedly made headlines in the popular press with her studies of the effects of chemicals on bees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070719-bee-control.html |title=Queen Bees "Brainwash" Workers With Chemicals |publisher=News.nationalgeographic.com |date= |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Amber Dance| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Queen-bees-use-mind-control-to-keep-young-workers-2580400.php |title=Queen bees use mind control to keep young workers in line |via=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=21 July 2007 |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techtimes.com/articles/138002/20160303/pesticide-dumbs-down-bees-causes-deficits-in-memory-and-learning.htm |title=Pesticide 'Dumbs Down' Bees, Causes Deficits In Memory And Learning : SCIENCE |publisher=Tech Times |date=3 March 2016 |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref> She was nicknamed the "Queen of all pheromones" by ''[[Otago Daily Times]]'' for her work in discovering that exposing a young bee to the pheromone of a queen bee actually alters the composition of the young bee's brain.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/queen-all-pheromones|title=The queen of all pheromones|date=2008-12-08|newspaper=[[Otago Daily Times]]|access-date=2018-07-26|language=en}}</ref> She has also published on the [[virroa mite]] a problematic parasite of honeybees.<ref>{{cite web|author=Rachel Graham |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/296034/researchers-hope-for-varroa-bee-mite-breakthrough |title=Researchers hope for varroa bee mite breakthrough |website=[[Radio New Zealand News]] |date=8 February 2016 |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=On the Front Line: Quantitative Virus Dynamics in Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies along a New Expansion Front of the Parasite Varroa destructor |journal=Plos Pathogens |volume=10 |issue=8 |pages=e1004323 |publisher=Journals.plos.org |date=21 August 2014 |doi=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004323 |pmid=25144447 |pmc=4140857 |last1=Mondet |first1=Fanny |last2=De Miranda |first2=Joachim R. |last3=Kretzschmar |first3=Andre |last4=Le Conte |first4=Yves |last5=Mercer |first5=Alison R. }}</ref>
She has repeatedly made headlines in the popular press with her studies of the effects of chemicals on bees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070719-bee-control.html |title=Queen Bees "Brainwash" Workers With Chemicals |publisher=News.nationalgeographic.com |date= |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Amber Dance| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Queen-bees-use-mind-control-to-keep-young-workers-2580400.php |title=Queen bees use mind control to keep young workers in line |via=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=21 July 2007 |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techtimes.com/articles/138002/20160303/pesticide-dumbs-down-bees-causes-deficits-in-memory-and-learning.htm |title=Pesticide 'Dumbs Down' Bees, Causes Deficits In Memory And Learning : SCIENCE |publisher=Tech Times |date=3 March 2016 |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref> She was nicknamed the "Queen of all pheromones" by ''[[Otago Daily Times]]'' for her work in discovering that exposing a young bee to the pheromone of a queen bee actually alters the composition of the young bee's brain.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/queen-all-pheromones|title=The queen of all pheromones|date=2008-12-08|newspaper=[[Otago Daily Times]]|access-date=2018-07-26|language=en}}</ref> She has also published on the [[virroa mite]] a problematic parasite of honeybees.<ref>{{cite web|author=Rachel Graham |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/296034/researchers-hope-for-varroa-bee-mite-breakthrough |title=Researchers hope for varroa bee mite breakthrough |website=[[Radio New Zealand News]] |date=8 February 2016 |accessdate=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=On the Front Line: Quantitative Virus Dynamics in Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies along a New Expansion Front of the Parasite Varroa destructor |journal=PLOS Pathogens |volume=10 |issue=8 |pages=e1004323 |date=21 August 2014 |doi=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004323 |pmid=25144447 |pmc=4140857 |last1=Mondet |first1=Fanny |last2=De Miranda |first2=Joachim R. |last3=Kretzschmar |first3=Andre |last4=Le Conte |first4=Yves |last5=Mercer |first5=Alison R. }}</ref>


In the [[2008 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2008 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Mercer was appointed an [[Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to science.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2008 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2008 |date=2 June 2008 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=28 December 2019}}</ref>
In the [[2008 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2008 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Mercer was appointed an [[Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to science.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2008 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2008 |date=2 June 2008 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=28 December 2019}}</ref>

Revision as of 18:51, 4 March 2020

Alison Mercer
ONZM
Born1954 (age 69–70)
Alma materUniversity of Otago
Scientific career
FieldsZoology
InstitutionsUniversity of Otago
Thesis

Alison Ruth Mercer ONZM (born 1954) is a New Zealand zoologist based at the University of Otago.[1]

Education

Mercer received her PhD in zoology in 1979 from the University of Otago. Her thesis Visceral innervation in molluscs was concerned with molluscs.[2]

Academic career

She is now a professor at the University of Otago.[1] Her current research interests span from understanding the brain and behaviour of honey bees, development genetics, as well as learning and memory.[3]

She has repeatedly made headlines in the popular press with her studies of the effects of chemicals on bees.[4][5][6] She was nicknamed the "Queen of all pheromones" by Otago Daily Times for her work in discovering that exposing a young bee to the pheromone of a queen bee actually alters the composition of the young bee's brain.[7] She has also published on the virroa mite a problematic parasite of honeybees.[8][9]

In the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mercer was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to science.[10]

Selected works

  • Mondet, Fanny, et al. "On the front line: quantitative virus dynamics in honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies along a new expansion front of the parasite Varroa destructor." PLOS Pathogens 10.8 (2014): e1004323.
  • Mercer, A. R., and R. Menzel. "The effects of biogenic amines on conditioned and unconditioned responses to olfactory stimuli in the honeybeeApis mellifera." Journal of Comparative Physiology A 145.3 (1982): 363–368.
  • Flanagan, Daniel, and Alison R. Mercer. "An atlas and 3-D reconstruction of the antennal lobes in the worker honey bee, Apis mellifera L.(Hymenoptera: Apidae)." International Journal of Insect Morphology and Embryology 18.2–3 (1989): 145–159.
  • Beggs, Kyle T., et al. "Queen pheromone modulates brain dopamine function in worker honey bees." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104.7 (2007): 2460–2464.

References

  1. ^ a b "Professor Alison Mercer, Our People, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand". Otago.ac.nz. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Visceral innervation in molluscs. – Dunedin Campus". Otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Professor Alison Mercer". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Queen Bees "Brainwash" Workers With Chemicals". News.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  5. ^ Amber Dance (21 July 2007). "Queen bees use mind control to keep young workers in line". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 October 2017 – via San Francisco Chronicle.
  6. ^ "Pesticide 'Dumbs Down' Bees, Causes Deficits In Memory And Learning : SCIENCE". Tech Times. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  7. ^ "The queen of all pheromones". Otago Daily Times. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  8. ^ Rachel Graham (8 February 2016). "Researchers hope for varroa bee mite breakthrough". Radio New Zealand News. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  9. ^ Mondet, Fanny; De Miranda, Joachim R.; Kretzschmar, Andre; Le Conte, Yves; Mercer, Alison R. (21 August 2014). "On the Front Line: Quantitative Virus Dynamics in Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies along a New Expansion Front of the Parasite Varroa destructor". PLOS Pathogens. 10 (8): e1004323. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1004323. PMC 4140857. PMID 25144447.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  10. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2008". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2019.


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