How Prospective Students and Postdocs Can Learn More About Joining the Behmer Lab

Updated

The Behmer Lab website invites prospective students and postdocs to click a dedicated link to learn more about the lab, and it also encourages anyone with questions to contact the lab directly. Before reaching out, you can use the site's research descriptions, recent news, and publication list to judge whether your interests fit the lab's work.

What the site says about joining

The homepage of the Insect Physiology & Behavior Research Group (IPBRG), led by Spence Behmer, states plainly: "Prospective students and postdocs can click here to learn more about the lab." That link is the site's designated starting point for join inquiries.

The same page closes with an open invitation: "Please explore our site and contact us if you have any questions." So the site supports two paths — a structured "learn more" page for prospective members, and direct contact for anything not covered there.

What to review before you make contact

The site gives you enough material to assess fit on your own first:

  • Research areas. The lab pursues three broadly defined areas: physiological ecology, insect sterol (cholesterol) biology, and mechanisms of learning.
  • Approach. The group describes its method as "bottom-up," emphasizing individual behavior as a tool to understand physiological and higher-level processes, and notes it has recently begun using sequencing approaches to better understand physiological processes.
  • Study organisms. Research uses grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, Drosophila, and insects with sucking mouthparts (hemipterans).
  • Recent news and announcements. The site lists dated items, including conference talks and travel by Spence Behmer, a student award, and thesis defense news.
  • Publications. A key publications and features section and news entries point to papers, including work on nutrition and insect susceptibility to Bt toxins.

Reading these sections first lets you write a more specific inquiry and shows you have engaged with the lab's actual output.

A practical sequence

  1. Open the homepage and read the research-area descriptions and the "bottom-up" approach statement.
  2. Follow the "click here" link for prospective students and postdocs to see what the lab provides for applicants.
  3. Skim recent news and the publication list to identify work closest to your interests.
  4. Use the site's contact invitation to reach out with questions, referencing the specific area or paper that prompted your interest.

What the site does not specify

The available page content does not state application deadlines, required materials, funding, positions currently open, or eligibility conditions. Treat the "learn more" link and direct contact as the routes to those details rather than assuming them from the homepage.