IS: Who are you and what do you do?

KH: Katja Hogendoorn, bee researcher at the school of Agriculture, Food and Wine of the University of Adelaide. At the moment, I lead a project that investigates revegetation strategies for crop pollinators.

IS: How did you end up researching social insects?

KH: I love solving puzzles and have always been fascinated by animal behaviour. As a lonely four year old, I spent many days observing the effects of manipulations of ant foraging trails. In Utrecht, where I studied, the choice in ethology was between primates and social insects. Insects seemed relatively easy study objects and the evolution of the worker caste was one of the more intriguing puzzles.

IS: What is your favourite social insect and why?

KH: There isn’t one, but there is a family: the Xylocopidae. The variation in social behaviour within this family is phenomenal- everything from solitary to primitively eusocial and there is even a species with an allometric worker caste. Together with the Halictidae, the Xylocopidae offer the best opportunities for studying the evolution of sociality.

IS: What is the best moment/discovery in your research so far? What made it so memorable?

KH: I’m not one to look back – my best is still to come. I thrive on new insights, which do not necessarily get published. So I’m happiest when, through thinking, I can make sense of something that I earlier didn’t understand. The best moments were when I finally understood the factors that shape mating strategies, the drivers in the evolution of buzz pollinated plants and the morphology of Australian flowers. At the moment I am grappling with the evolution of diet width and male sleeping clusters in bees.

IS: If teaching is part of your work, what courses do you teach? Has your work on social insects helped to shape your teaching?

KH: I supervise postgrads, but I don’t teach.

IS: What is the last book you read? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

KH: The ‘Noise of Time’, by Julian Barnes, whom I consider one of the best living authors. He writes beautiful prose and combines humour with sensitivity.

IS: Did any one book have a major influence in shaping your career? What was the book and how did it affect you?

KH: Two books: ‘Onder proffessoren’ by Willem Frederik Hermans, and ‘Brazzaville Beach’ by William Boyd. Though neither are very good books, both satirise the pettiness, jealousy and power games that occur in the academic world, which I loathe. The books improved my ability to place that kind of behaviour and therefore allowed me to better savour the wonderful sides of working in academia.

IS: Outside of science, what are your favourite activities, hobbies or sports?

KH: Reading a very wide range of books, growing and cooking food.

IS: How do you keep going when things get tough?

KH: Prioritise and relativise. Not everything is important – some things are allowed to fall by the wayside. Then knuckle down and get at least the most important things done one at a time.

IS: If you were to go live on an uninhabited island and could only bring three things, what would you bring? Why?

KH: A large box of matches, a knife and a boat. I’d need to eat, make tools and leave the island.

IS: Who do you think has had the greatest influence on your science career?

KH: Three people: My dad. I couldn’t compete with his knowledge of art and languages, so I turned towards science instead. My PhD supervisor Hayo Velthuis. He was very encouraging during my first forays in honey bee kin recognition and encouraged me to publish my results. He also introduced me to the IUSSI. Attending IUSSI conferences has been a major influence in the early stages of my career. My partner, Remko Leijs. Exploring life’s puzzles together remains great fun.

IS: What advice would you give to a young person hoping to be a social insect researcher in the future?

KH: Try to design intelligent, elegant experiments that can give answers to interesting questions. Publish early in your career.