John Hranitz, Ph.D.

Teaching

Biology of Aging, Population Biology, Research Methods, Research in Biology 1, Integrated Physiology Laboratory, Marine Ecology, NSF REU program, Anatomy and Physiology 1 Lab, Anatomy and Physiology 2 Lab, Current Topics in Biology

Research Interests

My research expertise is in the ecological genetics and physiological ecology of animals.  I study amphibians, reptiles and bees, but I also collaborate to study other taxa, providing expertise in ecological genetics or physiological ecology.  I use numerous techniques (allozyme genetics, microsatellite DNA genotyping, mtDNA sequencing, western blotting, ELISA, and skeletochronology) to study heterozygosity-fitness relationships, population genetic structure, and the abundance, distribution, and the physiological ecology of animals.  Currently, studies by my students and I investigate island dwarfism and coastal ecology of amphibians, island pollination systems, host-vector relationships for West Nile Virus, and stress responses in bees.

Publication

Gonzaelez VH, Hranitz JM, Percival CR, Pulley KL, Tapsak ST, Tscheulin T, Petanidou T, Barthell JF.  2020.  Thermal tolerance varies with dim-light foraging and elevation in large carpenter bees (hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopini).  https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12842 (early view).

Gonzalez VH, Olsen A, Mallula M, Tosunoglu A, Cakmak I, Hranitz J, Barthell J. 2017. Bee visitors of Centaurea solstitialis L. (Asteraceae) in an urban environment in northwestern Turkey. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 11:403-409.

Gunes N, Aydin L, Belenli D, Hranitz JM, Mengilig S, Selova S. 2017. Stress responses of honey bees to organic acid and essential oil treatments against Varroa mites. Journal of Apicultural Research 56:175-81. doi: 10.1080/00218839.2017.1291229.

Presentations

2018 Pennsylvania Vector Association in Harrisburg, PA, 26 Oct.

Anderson H, Hutchinson M, Hranitz JM.  Molecular techniques to identify avian hosts in blood meals of mosquito vectors of West Nile Virus in Pennsylvania.

2019 Meeting of The Society For Integrative And Comparative Biology, Tampa FL, 3-7 Jan.

Ambrose A, Chambers C, Cordero Martinez C, Markland S, Osborn A, Shirley K, Twombly Ellis J, Silva Echeandia S, Giray T, Gonzalez VH, Hranitz JM, Barthell JF. 2019. Foraging Patterns of Three Carpenter Bee Species at Chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus) Bushes on the Greek Island of Lesvos. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Tampa, FL.

Cordero C, Ambrose A, Ortiz C, Petanidou T, Tscheulin T, Giray T, Hranitz JM, Barthell JF, Gonzalez VH, Agosto J. 2019. The response of circadian rhythms to humidity/temperature oscillations and the foraging patterns of specialist and generalist sweat bees. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Tampa, FL.

Llewellyn HJ, Smith EN, Surmacz CA, Hranitz JM. 2019. Sublethal Effects of the Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid on Cellular Stress in the Honey Bee Brain. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Tampa, FL.

Shirley K, Osborn A, Chambers C, Ambrose A, Markland S, Twombly Ellis J, Gonzalez VH, Kantsa A, Petanidou T, Tscheulin T, Barthell JF, Hranitz JM. 2019. A Plant–Pollinator Network in a Coastal Agricultural Field on Lesvos Island, Greece. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Tampa, FL.

Funding

NSF-International REU Grant: Comparative Studies of Bees in the Greek Archipelago.  Charlotte Simmons (PI), Charles Abramson (Co-PI), John F. Barthell (Senior Personnel), Victor H. Gonzalez (Senior Personnel), John M. Hranitz (Senior Personnel).  Submitted August 2019. Pending.

PASSHE Faculty Professional Development Council Grant. Faculty Research and Development of Insect Pollen Load DNA Analysis Techniques to Investigate Plant-Pollinator Interactions. $9,600 (funded)  

BU Mini-Grant.  2018-2019.  Research and Development of DNA Sequencing Techniques to Identify Birds Species in Blood Meals of Mosquito Vectors of the West Nile Virus. $3,048. Funded. (Hannah Anderson, Samantha Maywald, Graduate Students).

2016-2020. NSF-International REU Grant: Synergistic Studies of Honey Bees in the Republic of Turkey.  John F. Barthell (PI), Charles Abramson (Co-PI), Victor H. Gonzalez (Senior Personnel), John M. Hranitz (Senior Personnel).  Funded ($396,640)