Dr. Alex Smith in a rainforest in Costa Rica
Dr. Alex Smith

Dr. Alex Smith, an integrative biologist, and Aaron Fairweather, a PhD student in the School of Environmental Sciences, discussed ants in an episode of CBC’s new nature comedy and documentary series “Frick, I Love Nature.” 

Smith explained ant warfare and said ants from different colonies will fight due to a lack of resources per ant. Fairweather described the roles ants take on in their colonies, and that some are like human professions, such as nurses and emergency responders.  

A professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, Smith researches the distribution of insects across different regions in tropical and temperate environments. 

Fairweather is completing their PhD under Dr. Nigel Raine, the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation in U of G’s School of Environmental Sciences (SES); they are co-supervised by SES professor Dr. Jonathan Schmidt. 

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