THE TYPES AND ACREAGES PLANTED TO GENETICALLY-ENGINEERED (GE) CROPS KEEP INCREASING. DESPITE THE LARGE NUMBER OF INSECT-POLLINATED CROPS AND THE FACT THAT GE VARIETIES ARE AVAILABLE OR BEING DEVELOPED FOR MANY OF THESE CROPS, THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW INSECT POLLINATORS AFFECT THE MOVEMENT OF GENES VIA POLLEN (GENE FLOW) IS LAGGING IN COMPARISON TO HOW WIND POLLINATION INFLUENCES GENE MOVEMENT. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT GENE FLOW IN INSECT-POLLINATED SYSTEMS WOULD IMPROVE OUR PREDICTIONS OF GENE FLOW RISK AND PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE GENE FLOW. THIS WOULD INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR COEXISTENCE OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS AND REDUCE THE RISK OF INCREASED INVASIVENESS AND DECREASED GENETIC DIVERSITY OF WILD POPULATIONS. A MAIN GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO LINK POLLINATOR BEHAVIOR TO GENE FLOW IN ORDER TO BETTER PREDICT GENE FLOW IN INSECT-POLLINATED CROPS. BECAUSE POLLINATOR TYPE AND LANDSCAPE ATTRIBUTES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO INFLUENCE POLLINATOR MOVEMENTS AND GENE FLOW, WE EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF THESE FACTORS ON THE MOVEMENT OF THREE POLLINATOR TYPES IN ALFALFA PATCHES OF TWO DIFFERENT SIZES OR PATCHES PLANTED AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES FROM ONE ANOTHER. ANALYSES OF THESE DATA WILL HIGHLIGHT THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT POLLINATOR MOVEMENTS. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE USED TO SIMULATE POLLINATOR MOVEMENTS AND COMBINED WITH POLLEN DEPOSITION CURVES OR SEED CURVES, WILL HELP BETTER PREDICT POLLEN MOVEMENT OR GENE FLOW, RESPECTIVELY. THE MODEL WILL BE TESTED USING GENE FLOW DATA OBTAINED EXPERIMENTALLY FOR DISTINCT POLLINATORS IN SPECIFIC LANDSCAPE SETTINGS. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT GENE FLOW IN INSECT-POLLINATED SYSTEMS WILL NOT ONLY HELP US BETTER PREDICT THE RISK OF GENE FLOW, BUT WILL ALSO HELP IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL FACTORS MEDIATING GENE FLOW AND THUS SERVE AS A FOUNDATION FOR IMPROVING SEED PURITY BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPS). OUR APPROACH WILL HELP FACILITATE COEXISTENCE AMONG DIFFERENT INSECT-POLLINATED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN THE US.