Erika J Ibarra-Garibay

Erika Ibarra-Garibay is a Ph.D. candidate studying how environmental stressors shape bumble bee health. She applies thermal physiology, landscape ecology, and ecotoxicology to tackle conservation challenges and support biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, and food security.
Her dissertation spans three integrated projects. She investigates thermal traits in bumble bee queens to understand species-specific vulnerabilities to climate change. She also examines how landscape characteristics shape the health and morphology of the endangered Bombus affinis (rusty patched bumble bee) and the threatened Bombus pensylvanicus (American bumble bee), in a project funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to inform recovery goals and habitat strategies. Her third project, developed in close partnership with Bayer Crop Science, evaluates the impacts of pesticide exposure on the health and nesting success of founding bumble bee queens, helping to fill critical data gaps in pollinator risk assessments.
Erika is also a Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) Fellow—a prestigious, nationally competitive program that equips doctoral students with career readiness skills through interdisciplinary training, industry collaboration, and leadership development.
She brings a commitment to integrating science with land-use decisions, agricultural practices, and conservation policy, aiming to make pollinator health a priority in environmental and agricultural systems.