The BEE Team at Rutgers

I Have a Passion for Teaching & Conservation

I received my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I have worked at a variety of institutions, including Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  Currently, I am an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, where I teach Invertebrate Zoology, Fundamentals of Evolution, Animal Behavior and the Evolution of Sex and Gender in Animals. 

I am a community ecologist specializing in arthropod conservation, having worked mostly with spiders and bees. My projects range from developing automated identification systems to facilitate projects involving surveys of taxonomically challenging groups to supplementing bee-friendly habitats through restoration and vegetation management of land in anthropogenically altered landscapes. Since working with Sam Droege at the USGS back in 2001 to develop monitoring protocols for wild bees, I have been focused on ways to make best use of transmission line easements to promote wild bee diversity and increase pollination services to the surrounding landscape. I have been involved in numerous projects over the years related to this goal, surveying bees from New Jersey & Maryland to Wisconsin to Oregon. Currently, I am finishing up a 5 year project working with PSEG, evaluating the use of seed mixes to enhance floral resources for bees. Since 2022, I have been working with the NY Horticultural Society and the NYC DOT to create “pollinator ports” throughout the city. Dr. Russell mentors an enthusiastic group of undergraduates at Rutgers (The BEE Team), all eager to work toward promoting wild bee populations.