Lab Values
Creativity, interdisciplinarity, collaboration, open source, open access, inclusiveness, team mentality
If you are interested in what we do and don’t see an explicit open position, write to Adria! There may be ways.
Dr. Adria LeBoeuf
Associate Professor
Prof. Adria LeBoeuf leads the Laboratory of Social Fluids at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Since first jumping into research, Adria has enjoyed working in between and on the edges of fields, especially around the evolution of communication and behavior. During her undergraduate studies at the College of Creative Studies at University of California Santa Barbara, she tried the two extremes of studying the brain, first on human behavior at the Center for Evolutionary Psychology and then on the microtubule dynamics underlying neurodegenerative disease. She received her PhD in neuroscience and biophysics from The Rockefeller University after studying the subcellular friction and adhesion within the auditory sensory hair bundle. Adria then made a dramatic shift from the nano-scale up to the organismal scale when she shifted to work with ants for her postdoc at University of Lausanne in Switzerland and later at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. As a recipient of a prestigious PRIMA grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, in 2019 she began her research group at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Her research focuses on how evolution has engineered social life, in particular, through socially exchanged fluids. In 2024 the Social Fluids Lab moved to Cambridge University’s Department of Zoology. In addition to her scientific life, Adria is the founder and strategic director of the science-entertainment collective The Catalyst which focuses on using improvisation to help researchers better communicate their work.
The lab’s work has been recognized by awards (Best Paper for Meurville & LeBoeuf 2021), many stories in the media, and prestigious grants (HFSP 2022).
Post-doctoral Researchers
Dr. Sanja Hakala
Sanja is an evolutionary biologist interested in all kinds of interactions and complex selection pressures in natural populations. She did her master's in the University of Helsinki on the population genetics of Arctic ctenophores. She continued with a PhD on the interplay of dispersal and social evolution in Formica ants. In her post-doctoral project she studies how trophallactic fluid can control the development and maturation of the sexual castes in ant colonies.
Dr. Matteo Negroni
Fascinated by insects, Matteo is interested in life-history traits evolution and regulation in social insects as well as in behaviors and molecular mechanisms associated with the evolution of social life. He did his Master’s thesis at the University of Lausanne, in Switzerland, under the direction of Prof. Nathalie Stroeymeyt on the influence of nest structure on reproductive conflicts between queen and workers for male production in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi. He continued with a Ph.D. at the University of Mainz in Germany under the direction of Prof. Susanne Foitzik and Dr. Barbara Feldmeyer investigating the ultimate and the proximate bases of the regulation of lifespan and reproduction in Temnothorax ants. In his postdoc project, he is now investigating the molecular bases of superorganism physiology and the role of social fluid exchange on the division of metabolic labor in the ant Camponotus floridanus.
Dr. Yuqi Wang
Dr. Helder Hugo
Helder Hugo is a behavioural ecologist interested in how animal groups form, function and evolve. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Lab of Social Fluids, he utilizes cutting-edge computational methods to automatically track behavior, social fluid exchange, and larval growth in social insect colonies. His current research is aimed at understanding mechanisms of collective control and decision-making in social colonies. In his doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, he investigated mechanisms of collective behavior in complex societies using Neotropical termites as a model species. His background includes a PhD in Biology (University of Konstanz, Germany, 2022), an MSc in Entomology (UFV, Brazil, 2016) and a BSc and teaching degree in Biological Sciences (PUC Minas, Brazil, 2009). He also has theoretical and practical experience in taxonomy and ecology of spiders, integrated pest management, biological control, and termite behavioral ecology. Helder is also a scientific illustrator and enjoys playing guitar, ukulele, harmonica and piano in his free time.
Students
Marie-Pierre Meurville (phD)
Her curiosity towards life sciences pushed her to study biology at UNIL, where Marie-Pierre obtained her bachelor and master's degrees with a specialization in bioinformatics. She now starts as a PhD student in the lab of Social Fluids at UNIFR, where she will express her passion for evolution, living beings and communication.
Alison Bender (MSC)
Alison is doing her masters at UNIFR on honeypot ants and their behavior. She is also very active in the student organization AGEF.
Arthur Matte (MSC)
Presently doing his MSc at the University of Montpellier, Arthur’s deep interest in evolution and morpho-anatomy led him to investigate the morphological changes linked to the transition to eusociality in ants. He now pursues an internship in the lab of Social Fluids with the aim to decipher factors that shaped the dimorphism between ant queens and workers across their evolution.
Staff
Nicole Andreoli
Thanks to her love for animals and nature she did her bachelor degree in Biology at the University of Fribourg. She chose to continue her Master’s degree at UNIFR with a specialization in Ecology and Evolution in the lab of Social Fluids, which allowed her to deepen her knowledge in animal behavior. She continues her work there as a technician.
Guillaume Kuhn
His fascination for the living world and its diversity of forms led him to study Biology at the University of Fribourg. In his Master degree, he deepened his knowledge in community ecology by assessing the effects of two competitive predators (Vespa crabro and Argiope bruennichi) on the population densities of their common preys (pollinators guild). His work at the ant lab gives him the opportunity to help on projects that focus on one of his favorite study subject: ants.
Artem Lutov - Coding consultant
For more information about Artem’s superpowers, see his consulting agency.