Text: Since 2021, Lars has been the Vinetum Lecturer in Wild Bee Health and group leader in this field. Trained as a biologist with a focus on ecology, evolution and entomology, his research seeks to uncover the mechanisms driving biodiversity loss—particularly the decline of wild bees and the rising annual losses of managed honey bees, both of which are vital for environmental health and sustainable food security. He investigates how biotic and abiotic factors, alone or in combination, shape insect fitness, with particular interest in determinants of susceptibility to environmental stressors (e.g., hemizygosity, seasonality, life-history traits). His hypothesis-driven research is empirical and comparative, employing diverse model systems: highly eusocial perennial bees (honey bees, stingless bees), eusocial annuals (bumble bees), and solitary insects (mason bees, butterflies, beetles). To address these questions, he integrates organismic, ecotoxicological, epidemiological, molecular, and statistical approaches. Collaborations with national partners (e.g., Agroscope) and international institutes (e.g., in Thailand, Canada, USA, Germany) expand the scope of his work and support a holistic understanding of how environmental stressors affect wild bee and honey bee fitness. Since May 2025, Lars has held the Venia Docendi (‘Privatdozent’, PD; Habilitation), enabling him to independently supervise students from B.Sc. to Ph.D. level. He also coordinates teaching activities at the Institute of Bee Health for the Vetsuisse Faculty and at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology.
