Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Professor Barron is the Director of the Macquarie Minds and Intelligences Initiative. He is a neuroethologist, which is a discipline of neuroscience studying the neural mechanisms of natural animal behaviour. Most of his research focuses on insects, especially honey bees. Using advanced techniques to visualise, manipulate, map and record from the insect brain Barron’s team has made important contributions to the understanding of fundamental behavioural systems such as cognition, navigation, social behaviour and learning and memory.
He also conducts research to improve honey bee health and welfare. He is studying how bees and bee colonies are impacted by pesticide and disease stressors, and how to best intervene to help bee colonies under stress.
Research interests
Understanding animal minds
What is it like to be a bee? Are simple animals like insects cognitive and reflective entities, or are they more like robots: simple reflexive stimulus-response machines? Studying animal behaviour combined with studies of the mechanisms supporting behavioural capacities will give critical understanding of the nature of animal minds.
Modelling the insect brain
The insect brain is a complex cognitive microprocessor. This project combines experimental neuroscience with computational and mathematical modelling to explore how the circuits and systems of the insect brain function and generate behaviour.
Honey bee health and welfare
This is not an easy time to be a bee. Pesticides, diseases, habitat degradation and climate change are all piling stressors onto honey bees. Honey bee colonies are failing at such a rate that there is concern we may not have enough bees to pollinate our food crops. This research program explores how we can best support bee health in the current challenging environment.
Education/Academic qualification
Department of Zoology, PhD, University of Cambridge
1995 → 1999
Natural Sciences, First Class Honours, University of Cambridge
1992 → 1995
External positions
Leverhulme Visiting Professor: The University of Sheffield
2018 → 2019
Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Australian Research Council
2015 → 2022
President, Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, AUSTRALASIAN SOCIETY OF THE STUDY OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
2012 → 2014
Vice-President, Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, AUSTRALASIAN SOCIETY OF THE STUDY OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
2010 → 2012
Treasurer, Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, AUSTRALASIAN SOCIETY OF THE STUDY OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
2008 → 2010
Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University
2004 → 2007
Fullbright Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2001 → 2004
Royal Society Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Sydney
1999 → 2001
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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A new understanding of complex systems through study of self-assembled swarm architecture in ants
30/06/17 → …
Project: Research
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Biomolecular Discovery and Design Research Centre
Packer, N., Paulsen, I., Nevalainen, H., Haynes, P., Molloy, M., Atwell, B., Barron, A., Beggs, P., Bergquist, P. L., Brown, L., Cornish, J., Chung, R., De Deene, Y., Garcia-Bennett, A., Gillings, M., Goodchild, A., Guillemin, G., Hallinan, J., Hose, G., Jaschke, P., Mabbutt, B., Raftos, D., Ranganathan, S., Sofronov, G., Sunna, A., Tetu, S., Andersen, M., Willows, R., Ahn, C., Breen, E., Campbell, M., Care, A., Cordina, N., Curach, N., Everest Dass, A., Elbourne, L., Goold, H., Hassan, K., Kautto, L., Krisp, C., Kroukamp, H., Lee, A., Lin, C., Mackie, A., McKay, M., McQuade, L., Mirzaei, M., Mohamedali, A., Ostrowski, M., Parker, L., Pascovici, D., Penesyan, A., Shah, B., Sun, A., Thompson, E. & Williams, T.
1/01/17 → …
Project: Research
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Macquarie University Species Spectrum Research Center
Herberstein, M., Gillings, M., Jacob, D., Saintilan, N., Barron, A., Westoby, M., Sofronov, G. & Tetu, S.
1/01/17 → …
Project: Research
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Comment on "Food wanting is mediated by transient activation of dopaminergic signaling in the honey bee brain"
Barron, A., Fahrbach, S. E., Mercer, A. R., Mesce, K. A., Schulz, D. J., Smith, B. H. & Søvik, E., 4 Aug 2023, In: Science (New York, N.Y.). 381, 6657, p. 1 1 p., adg3916.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Feeding and amines stimulate the growth of the salivary gland following short-term starvation in the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus
Othman, N. W., Barron, A. B. & Cooper, P. D., Jun 2023, In: Insects. 14, 6, p. 1-16 16 p., 495.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
Heavy metal pollutants: the hidden pervasive threat to honey bees and other pollinators
Monchanin, C., Burden, C., Barron, A. B. & Smith, B. H., 2023, Environmental Threats to Pollinator Health and Fitness. Harrison, J. F. (ed.). London: Elsevier, p. 255-288 34 p. (Advances in Insect Physiology; vol. 64).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
2 Citations (Scopus) -
How honey bees make fast and accurate decisions
MaBouDi, H., Marshall, J. A. R., Dearden, N. & Barron, A. B., 27 Jun 2023, In: eLife. 12, p. 1-26 26 p., e86176.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile6 Downloads (Pure) -
The diverging epigenomic landscapes of honeybee queens and workers revealed by multiomic sequencing
Zhang, Y., He, X. J., Barron, A. B., Li, Z., Jin, M. J., Wang, Z. L., Huang, Q., Zhang, L. Z., Wu, X. B., Yan, W. Y. & Zeng, Z. J., Apr 2023, In: Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 155, p. 1-12 12 p., 103929.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus)
Datasets
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Data from: Evaluating the foraging performance of individual honey bees in different environments with automated field RFID systems
Colin, T. (Contributor), Warren, R. J. (Contributor), Quarrell, S. R. (Contributor), Allen, G. R. (Contributor) & Barron, A. (Contributor), Macquarie University, 11 Jun 2022
Dataset
Prizes
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Centre for Visual Science New Initiatives Fellowship
Barron, Andrew (Recipient), 2003
Prize: Other distinction
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Excellence in Research in Science and Engineering: Highly Commended
Barron, Andrew (Recipient), 2014
Prize
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Activities
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International Congress of Neuroethology (Event)
Andrew Barron (Member)
2017Activity: Membership › Membership of committee
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Re-use and Evolvability Workshop
Andrew Barron (Invited speaker)
2017Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Australian Neuroscience Society Annual Scientific Meeting
Andrew Barron (Organiser)
2017Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising a conference, workshop or event series
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Animal Consciousness Conference
Andrew Barron (Invited speaker)
2017Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
Press/Media
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The Connectomic Revolution: What the Insect Brain Can Tell Us About Ourselves
12/06/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
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Ten years after the crisis, what is happening to the world’s bees?
Andrew Barron & Simon Klein
8/05/17
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
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What it is like to be a bee: insects can teach us about the origins of consciousness
Andrew Barron & Colin Klein
19/04/16
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Other
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Insects could shed light on evolution of consciousness
18/04/16
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Do Honeybees Feel? Scientists Are Entertaining the Idea
18/04/16
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment