Plant Whisperer to give Entomology Seminar on Plant-Insect Interactions

A.Kessler/H.Jorgensen

The Department of Entomology in the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and the Division of Agriculture host André Kessler for a seminar at 11:50 a.m. Friday, April 20.

The seminar, "Plant whispering: Plant-to-plant communication and its role in driving herbivore population dynamics," is free and open to the public and will be held in AGRI 332. Refreshments will be served before the seminar at 11:00 a.m. in AGRI 316.

The research of André Kessler, assistant professor at Cornell University, focuses on the ecology and evolution of plant-insect interactions. Kessler works with native tomato and tobacco to understand the fitness consequences of altered pollinator attraction in response to leaf herbivory. He also looks at biochemical mechanisms of plant defense in goldenrod in a native system.