"How Do Animals Think? Some Insights from Bumble Bees'

Felicity Muth, assistant professor, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, UC Davis College of Biological Sciences, will give a special presentation via Zoom on “How Do Animals Think? Some Insights from Bumble Bees” from 3:10 to 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 20.

The presentation will be on Zoom only. Access link.  

Muth is a Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) scholar. The talk will be hosted by the UC Davis Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Office of Academic Diversity.

"Animals use their cognition (perception, learning and decision-making) to navigate their worlds, making complex decisions," Muth says in her abstract. "Many of these processes are shared amongst humans and non-human animals. Here I draw on a few topics from our research to highlight ways that bees (and perhaps other animals too) think about things. In addition, I discuss some recent outreach events from our lab and efforts to spread knowledge about native bees."

Muth's presentation is meant to spark discussion between faculty and graduate students, but anyone is welcome, said spokesperson Doris Kim of DEI.

Muth, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 2014,   specializes in animal behavior and cognition, including aspects of learning and memory that have a clear function in the natural world. 

As part of UC Davis’ $1.039 billion in external research awards, Muth received funding from The National Geographic Society for her project, "Ecology Shaping Cognition: An Exploration with Wild Bees." 

She is the author of a children's book,  "Am I Even a Bee?" 

Originally from London, Muth completed her undergraduate degree in zoology from the University  of Edinburgh in 2009, and her doctorate in biology from the University of St. Andrews in 2012.  After receiving her doctorate, she began studying bumble bee cognition at the University of Arizona and University of Nevada, Reno. She was funded by L’Oreal for Women in Science, the American Association of University Women, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture.