Lauren Murray

Undergraduate Research in the Neighborhoods

The goal of Lauren’s project was to examine flower petals under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and figure out whether their unique structure influenced bee pollination. Using the SEM, Lauren examined five different flower petals and chose to analyze two different flowers. Murray found that there were many differences, on a structural basis, that allowed her to conclude on how the structure affected bee pollination. The main difference was the difference in cell shape. One of the flowers had conical-shaped cells, while the other had flat, striated cells. Based on previous research findings, it was discovered that bees are more attracted to conical cells due to the shape. The conical cells allow the bees to more easily grip on to the petal. This allowed Murray to conclude that a bee would be more likely to pollinate the flower with conical-shaped cells compared to the flower with flat cells.  

Learn more about this and other research in the STEM Teaching and Learning Facility.