Chris Robinson

Chris is a second year PhD student at Indiana University where he is working with Dr. Irene Newton and Dr. Curt Lively on the evolution and ecology of honey bee viruses and mobile genetic elements.

Chris is a first-generation college student from a rural community in South Carolina and owes much of his research interests to being steeped in a culture of farming and food.

He received his BS in Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2015 and spent 6 years working in restaurant kitchens, USDA plant pathology laboratories, and leading independent research in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Since starting his PhD, Chris has been integrating honey bee disease research with ecological and evolutionary approaches. He hopes that this approach will develop a deeper understanding of the evolution and epidemiology of pathogens affecting honey bees while identifying solutions that lead to healthier and more sustainable honey bee colonies.