Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Stacey A. Combes is a leading biomechanist and behavioral ecologist whose work bridges the gap between animal flight, environmental stressors, and bio-inspired robotics. Her research primarily focuses on how insects and hummingbirds navigate complex, unsteady environments—from turbulent wind fields to the subtle but devastating effects of pesticide exposure. Combes is best known for her groundbreaking study on neonicotinoid pesticides, which demonstrated that even low-level exposure disrupts bumblebee nest behavior, social networks, and thermoregulation (290 citations). This work, using an innovative automated robotic platform, revealed the hidden mechanisms behind colony collapse. She has also made significant contributions to understanding flight performance under field-realistic turbulence, showing how bumblebees cope with chaotic wind conditions (78 citations), and how hummingbirds modulate wing rotation and muscle recruitment to recover from aerial perturbations. Her high-throughput studies of flapping wing aerodynamics inform both biological understanding and the design of agile, insect-inspired robots. Combes’ interdisciplinary approach—combining field experiments, lab-based biomechanics, and computational ethology—has reshaped our understanding of how flying animals and their colonies respond to environmental challenges, with profound implications for conservation and robotics.