Kyle Gray

Kyle W. Gray began an Evolutionary Biology PhD in Fall 2017 as part of the Christian Rabeling Lab. Major interests of the Rabeling Lab include natural history and evolution of ants, particularly fungus-growing ants and socially parasitic ants.

Gray earned his B.S. in Animal Biology with an emphasis in insect-plant interactions from UC Davis and worked with the Phil Ward Lab. Gray’s research in the Ward lab included characterizing novel ant-plant associations in Madagascar. After completing his undergraduate degree, Gray was invited to participate in the NSF-funded project “ADMAC: Ant Diversity of the MesoAmerican Corridor” (https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/home) as a field researcher and assistant in southern Mexico. The objective of ADMAC is to elucidate the diversity, biogeography, and evolution of ants in Central America using systematic field sampling and phylogenomic approaches (target enrichment of ultra-conserved loci and NextGen Sequencing).

After ADMAC, Gray taught natural sciences to elementary school students in southern California at High Trails Outdoor Science School during the 2016–2017 academic year. During this time, Gray produced preliminary ant fauna surveys of the area and published outreach material designed for young audiences about the fascinating biology of the conspicuous “thatch-mound ant” Formica ravida.

Gray’s research as part of the Rabeling Lab began with studying symbioses involving fungus-growing ants in southwestern North America. Gray’s current research explores biogeographical patterns of socially parasitic ants and ants of the South Pacific. Gray’s dissertation research will test hypotheses about the diversity, distribution, and evolution of these fascinating ants.