At the beginning of the fall semester, Nicole Balog successfully presented her preliminary exam seminar, securing her candidacy in Purdue's PhD program. Her talk, titled "Tetragonula carbonaria Hive Structure Characterization and Growth Mechanisms," discussed our current understanding and her preliminary work on the organization and structure of one species of stingless bee hive.

Her advisory committee and the group looks forward to what this work can reveal about these stunning hive architectures.