Sthandiwe (Nomthi) Kanyile, Blog Associate Editor
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Insect Symbiosis at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. Broadly, I am interested in interactions of organisms both intra- and inter-specifically, and how these interactions are mediated by environmental factors. My current work focuses on how microbial symbionts influence the ecology and evolution of insects. Specifically, I combine experimental manipulation of mutualistic associations with behavioural, molecular, and chemical approaches to unravel the eco-evolutionary consequences of these symbioses.

Lydia Morley, Blog Associate Editor
Texas A&M University

I’m a PhD Candidate at Texas A&M in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program. I’m interested in why, how, and where speciation and hybridization happen across the tree of life. I’m studying these dynamics in Spiranthes, a clade of native North American orchids. My work incorporates phylogenomics, phylogeography, niche analyses, and pollinator observation studies to understand both the ecological and evolutionary drivers of divergence and gene flow.