Dr. Alicja Laska

Current Projects

1. Specialization trade-offs and ecology of dispersal in phytophagous mites (PhD project)
2. Specialization trade-offs and ecology of dispersal in phytophagous mites (National Science Centre grant no. 2019/32/T/NZ8/00151)
3. Mechanisms to maintain heterozygosity during dispersal in a haplodiploid mite species (founded by the Dean of Faculty of Biology AMU, grant no. GDWB-07/2018)
4. Host specialization-generalization trade-offs in an invasive wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella (National Science Centre grant no. 2017/27/N/NZ8/00305, PI)
5. Unravelling the mystery of simplified morphology in an invasive plant parasite by insight into the organisation of hox gene clusters (grant ID-UB nr 003/13/UAM/0014, PI)
6. A bidirectional selection experiment to test the evolution of specialization and dispersal in the invasive wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella (National Science Centre grant no. 2016/21/B/NZ8/00786, Investigator)
7. Discovery and Evaluation of Biological Control Agents of Invasive Annual Grasses (USDA-ARS no. 58-2060-7-002-F, BBCA onlus, Investigator)
8. Genetics of host specificity of the wheat curl mite complex (USDI-BLM and USDA-ARS agreement no 60-2060-7-001, Investigator)

Completed Projects

1. Male reproductive system, spermatogenesis and spermatozoons structure in the mite Trachygamasus sp. (Parasitiformes: Parasitidae) (MSc project)
2. Behavioral mechanisms of habitat selection processes in small songbirds: the wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) as a case study (National Science Centre grant no. 2012/07/N/NZ8/00129, Volunteer)
3. Species delimitation – combining morphometric, molecular and experimental approaches” (FNP grant nr HP/2012-5/8, Volunteer)
4. Spatial distribution of Aceria tosichella biotypes differing in their host specificity and invasive potential (National Science Centre grant no. 2011/03/B/NZ8/00129, Investigator)

Career History

• from 2016: PhD student (AMU)
• 2015: MSc degree in biology (Jagiellonian University)
• 2013:  BSc degree in biology (Jagiellonian University)

Internships

• 2020/2021: Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Genomics Group, Ghent University (long-term internship)
• 2020: Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Genomics Group, Ghent University (short-term internship)
• 2019: Centre of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, University of Lisbon (short-term internship)
• 2018: Centre of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, University of Lisbon (1-month internship)
•  2018: Department of Applied Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW (short-term internship)
• 2012 – Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals PAS (student internship)

Honors & awards

• 1st place in the contest for the best outline of classes that use LEGO® Education tools, August 2020 edition
• Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation: scholarship awarded in 2019/2020
• Minister of Science Scholarship – awarded to the best PhD students in 2018
• Rector of AMU Scholarship – awarded to the best PhD students in 2017/2018
• Rector of AMU Scholarship – awarded to the best PhD students in 2016/2017
• Rector of AMU Scholarship – awarded to the best PhD students in 2015/2016
• Best presntation award on VIII Copernican Science Students Symposium
• Award – top three placing in the ‘Best Oral Presentation’ XV International Congress of Acarology 02-08 September 2018, Antalya, Turkey.

Classes

1. Ecology

2023

Laska A., Rector B., Przychodzka A., Majer A., Zalewska K., Kuczyński L., Skoracka A., Do mites eat and run? A systematic review of feeding and dispersal strategies, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2023; zlac094, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac094

2022

Skoracka, A., Laska, A., Radwan, J., Konczal, M., Lewandowski, M., Puchalska,E., Karpicka-Ignatowska, K., Przychodzka, A., Raubic, J., Kuczyński L. 2022. Effective specialist or jack of all trades? Experimental evolution of a crop pest in fluctuating and stable environments. Evolutionary Applications, https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13360

Laska, A., Przychodzka, A., Puchalska, E., Lewandowski, M., Karpicka-Ignatowska, K., Skoracka, A. 2022. Mechanisms of dispersal and colonisation in a wind-borne cereal pest, the haplodiploid wheat curl mite. Scientific Reports, 12, 551. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04525-9

2021

Laska, A., Magalhães, S., Lewandowski, M., Puchalska, E., Karpicka-Ignatowska, K., Radwańska, A., Meagher, S., Kuczyński, L., Skoracka, A. 2021. A sink host allows a specialist herbivore to persist in a seasonal source. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288, 20211604. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1604

Majer, A., Laska, A., Hein, G., Kuczyński, L., Skoracka, A. 2021. Propagule pressure rather than population growth determines colonisation ability: a case study using two phytophagous mite species differing in their invasive potential. Ecological Entomology, https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13058

Karpicka-Ignatowska, K., Laska, A., Rector, B.G., Skoracka, A., Kuczyński, L. 2021. Temperature-dependent development and survival of an invasive genotype of wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella. Experimental and Applied Acarology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-021-00602-w

Majer, A., Laska, A., Hein, G., Kuczyński, L., Skoracka, A. 2021. Hitchhiking or hang gliding? Dispersal strategies of two cereal-feeding eriophyoid mite species. Experimental and Applied Acarology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-021-00661-z

2020

Kuczyński, L., Radwańska, A., Karpicka-Ignatowska, K., Laska, A., Lewandowski, M., Rector, B.G., Majer, A., Raubic, J., Skoracka, A. 2020. A comprehensive and cost-effective approach for investigating passive dispersal in minute invertebrates with case studies of phytophagous eriophyid mites. Experimental and Applied Acarology.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-020-00532-z

2019

Laska, A., Rector, B. G., Skoracka, A., Kuczyński L. Can your behaviour blow you away? Contextual and phenotypic precursors to passive aerial dispersal in phytophagous mites. Animal Behaviour 155, 141-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.07.003

Karpicka-Ignatowska K., Laska A., Kuczyński L., Rector B.G., Lewandowski M., Puchalska E., Skoracka A. 2019. A novel experimental approach for studying life-history traits of phytophagous arthropods utilizing an artificial culture medium. Scientific Reports, 9, 20327, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56801-4

Karpicka-Ignatowska K., Radwańska A., Stefańska M., Majer A., Laska A. 2019. Pollen and what else? Brief introduction to aerial dispersal of eriophyoid mites. International Aerobiology Newsletter 84, 6.

Radwańska A., Karpicka-Ignatowska K., Laska A. 2019. Economic importance, ecology and dispersal mechanisms of phytophagous mite Aceria tosichella. In: Janiszewska M. (ed.). Issues of environmental sciences – review and research. Science Publisher TYGIEL, Lublin 2019: 313-321.

2018

Laska, A., Majer, A., Szydło, W., Karpicka-Ignatowska, K., Hornyák, M., Labrzycka, A., Skoracka, A. Cryptic diversity within grass-associated Abacarus species complex (Acariformes: Eriophyidae), with the description of a new species, Abacarus plumiger n. sp.  Experimental and Applied Acarology, DOI:10.1007/s10493-018-0291-6

2017

Laska, A., Rector, B., G., Kuczyński, L. & Skoracka, A. 2017. Is body size important? Seasonal changes in morphology in two grass-feeding Abacarus mites, Experimental and Applied Acarology, DOI:10.1007/s10493-017-0159-1

2016

Kosztyła, P., Stec, D., Morek, W., Gąsiorek, P., Zawierucha, Z., Michno, K., Małek, D., Hlebowicz, K., Ufir, K., Laska, A., Dudziak, M., Frohme M., Prokop, Z.M., Kaczmarek, Ł. & Michalczyk, Ł. 2016. Experimental taxonomy confirms the environmental stability of morphometric traits in a taxonomically challenging group of microinvertebrates, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 178: 765–775, DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12409