Yareli Alvarez

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University in the lab of Dr. Corrie Moreau. 

I am broadly interested in the evolution of defense mechanisms. My current research explores how ecological pressures shape defensive strategies in social insects, such as the emergence of a soldier caste in ants and the plasticity of behavioral defenses in paper wasps. By integrating phylogenetic, behavioral, and genomic approaches, I aim to uncover how these traits evolve and contribute to the success of social insects.