Lab PI - Assistant Professor of Pollinator Ecology, Department of Entomology

Email: mchristman@agcenter.lsu.edu

Mo's (she/her) passion for ecology and conservation began as an undergraduate at Denison University. She started her career as an pollinator ecologist during her Ph.D. at Utah State University, and continued her training as a postdoctoral scholar at The Ohio State University and a USDA-NIFA-AFRI postdoctoral fellow at the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect–Biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit. 

Mo is actively engaged in science advocacy as a Science Policy Fellow with the Entomological Society of America. She is deeply committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in science through mentorship and public engagement. In the wild, Mo can be found hiking with her dog, boxing, and baking.

If you are interested in joining the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Imperiled Bombus Task Force, please email Mo or co-chair Tam Smith, tamara_smith@fws.gov.

As a child, Ridley (he/him) spent much of his time reading about wildlife, with a growing fascination for insects that solidified in middle school. In high school, Ridley's interest led him to reach out to the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, where he worked for two years gaining hands-on experience in insect identification and curation.

Ridley earned a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Ecology and Management at LSU. During college, he worked in a forest entomology lab, focusing on invasive species and biodiversity monitoring through a combination of fieldwork and research. He is broadly interested in the population and community ecology of invasive plants and insects, with a focus on their impacts on native plant and arthropod biodiversity and ecosystem function. In his free time, Ridley enjoys hiking and nature photography.

Email: rgraugnard@agcenter.lsu.edu