Alison Mercer

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Alison Mercer
ONZM
Otago University Zoology Dept * Alison Mercer 1987 (cropped).jpg
Mercer in 1987
Born1954 (age 70–71)
Alma mater University of Otago
Scientific career
FieldsZoology
InstitutionsUniversity of Otago
Thesis

Alison Ruth Mercer ONZM (born 1954) is a New Zealand zoologist based at the University of Otago, [1] with a particular interest in the brain physiology of bees. [2] [3] She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022. [4]

Contents

Education

Mercer received her PhD in zoology in 1979 from the University of Otago. Her thesis Visceral innervation in molluscs was concerned with molluscs. [5]

Academic career

She has been an emeritus professor at the University of Otago since 2018. [6] Her research interests span from understanding the brain [7] [8] and behaviour of honey bees, development genetics, as well as learning and memory. [9] [10] [11]

She has repeatedly made headlines in the popular press with her studies of the effects of chemicals on bees. [12] [13] [14] She was nicknamed the "Queen of all pheromones" by Otago Daily Times for her work in discovering that exposing a young bee to the pheromone of a queen bee actually alters the composition of the young bee's brain. [15] She has also published on the varroa mite a problematic parasite of honeybees. [16] [17]

Awards and honours

In the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mercer was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to science. [18]

In 2022, Mercer was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. [19]

Selected works

References

  1. ↑ "Professor Alison Mercer, Our People, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand". Otago.ac.nz. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ↑ Elodie Urlacher; Laurent Soustelle; Marie-Laure Parmentier; et al. (7 January 2016). "Honey Bee Allatostatins Target Galanin/Somatostatin-Like Receptors and Modulate Learning: A Conserved Function?". PLOS One . 11 (1): e0146248. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1146248U. doi: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0146248 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4704819 . PMID   26741132. Wikidata   Q35887908.
  3. ↑ Malgorzata Lagisz; Alison R. Mercer; Charlotte de Mouzon; Luana L S Santos; Shinichi Nakagawa (26 September 2015). "Association of Amine-Receptor DNA Sequence Variants with Associative Learning in the Honeybee". Behavior Genetics . 46 (2): 242–251. doi:10.1007/S10519-015-9749-Z. ISSN   0001-8244. PMID   26410688. Wikidata   Q50558844.
  4. ↑ "2022 NAS Election".
  5. ↑ "Visceral innervation in molluscs. – Dunedin Campus". Otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "University of Otago Annual Report 2018" (PDF). University of Otago. 2018. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  7. ↑ A R Mercer; P G Mobbs; Anthony P Davenport; P D Evans (1 January 1983). "Biogenic amines in the brain of the honeybee, Apis mellifera". Cell and Tissue Research . 234 (3): 655–677. doi:10.1007/BF00218658. ISSN   0302-766X. PMID   6420063. Wikidata   Q48829905.
  8. ↑ Merideth A Humphries; Julie A Mustard; Stacey J Hunter; Alison R. Mercer; Vernon Ward; Paul R Ebert (1 June 2003). "Invertebrate D2 type dopamine receptor exhibits age-based plasticity of expression in the mushroom bodies of the honeybee brain". Developmental Neurobiology . 55 (3): 315–330. doi:10.1002/NEU.10209. ISSN   1932-8451. PMID   12717701. Wikidata   Q45895371.
  9. ↑ Malgorzata Lagisz; Alison R. Mercer; Charlotte de Mouzon; Luana L S Santos; Shinichi Nakagawa (26 September 2015). "Association of Amine-Receptor DNA Sequence Variants with Associative Learning in the Honeybee". Behavior Genetics . 46 (2): 242–251. doi:10.1007/S10519-015-9749-Z. ISSN   0001-8244. PMID   26410688. Wikidata   Q50558844.
  10. ↑ Elodie Urlacher; Coline Monchanin; Coraline Rivière; Freddie-Jeanne Richard; Christie Lombardi; Sue Michelsen-Heath; Kimberly J Hageman; Alison R. Mercer (12 February 2016). "Measurements of Chlorpyrifos Levels in Forager Bees and Comparison with Levels that Disrupt Honey Bee Odor-Mediated Learning Under Laboratory Conditions". Journal of Chemical Ecology . 42 (2): 127–138. doi:10.1007/S10886-016-0672-4. ISSN   0098-0331. PMID   26872472. Wikidata   Q50533829.
  11. ↑ "Professor Alison Mercer". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "Queen Bees "Brainwash" Workers With Chemicals". News.nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  13. ↑ Amber Dance (21 July 2007). "Queen bees use mind control to keep young workers in line". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 20 October 2017– via San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. ↑ "Pesticide 'Dumbs Down' Bees, Causes Deficits In Memory And Learning : SCIENCE". Tech Times. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  15. ↑ "The queen of all pheromones". Otago Daily Times . 8 December 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  16. ↑ Rachel Graham (8 February 2016). "Researchers hope for varroa bee mite breakthrough". Radio New Zealand News . Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  17. ↑ Mondet, Fanny; De Miranda, Joachim R.; Kretzschmar, Andre; Le Conte, Yves; Mercer, Alison R. (21 August 2014). "On the Front Line: Quantitative Virus Dynamics in Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies along a New Expansion Front of the Parasite Varroa destructor". PLOS Pathogens. 10 (8): e1004323. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004323 . PMC   4140857 . PMID   25144447.
  18. ↑ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2008". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  19. ↑ "US academy honour for Otago scientist". Otago Daily Times . 14 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
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