Welcome to the Roberts Lab!

Our general aim is to understand insect function in evolutionary and ecological contexts. Our research has two primary trajectories: (1) the physiological and genomic/genetic variation underlying insect thermotolerance and (2) the physiological, biomechanical and biochemical traits that allow insects to meet and vary the aerodynamic and energetic requirements for hovering flight. Our research program strives to integrate functional (physiology, biochemistry, neurobiology, functional morphology, etc.), genetic (description and manipulation of discrete genes and quantitative traits), evolutionary and ecological approaches out of the conviction that all of these components are necessary for a rigorous analysis of biological phenomena.