Biography

Dr Julia Grassl is a Molecular Biologist and Honey Bee Researcher in the School of Molecular Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Dr Grassl obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology from Swansea University in the UK in 2007 and moved to Perth in 2009. As a group leader of the Honey Bee Health Research Group, her work now focusses on the impacts of genetic diversity, disease and nutrition on honey bee health. Working closely with beekeepers her work provides tools and answers for breeding healthy bees, detecting disease and finding nutrition thresholds through the application of molecular techniques. As a Program Leader for the CRC for Honey Bee Products in Honey Bee Health, her group is working hard to build sensors for non-invasive detection of AFB. Her work has advanced want we know about disease resistance in bees and is studying the effects of nutrition and supplementary feeding for healthier and more productive bees.