SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Special Event Screening: “Empire of the Ants”
An A.D. White Professors-at-Large keynote event
Thursday, October 5, 2023, at 5pm
Cornell Cinema, Willard Straight Hall
Free and open to all.

Based on the short story by H.G Wells, Empire of the Ants is a gem of 1970’s sci-fi horror. The film centers on a corrupt Florida real estate developer and her captain, set on luring investors to a property in the Everglades called Dreamland Shores, under false pretenses that the swampland will soon be developed. However, when the group arrives on the small island, they discover it has been overrun by giant mutated ants, brought to life by the dumping of toxic waste in the area and bent on human destruction.

Featuring an introduction and conversation with:
• May Berenbaum ’80 (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; A. D. White Professor-at-Large)
• Anurag Agrawal (James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies, Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology)

Complimentary concessions will be provided for all attendees.

This event is cosponsored by the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and in collaboration with Cornell Cinema.

Plant-Animal Interactions, Coevolution and Chemical Ecology
A Symposium in honor of Dr. May Berenaum, ADW Professor-at-Large at Cornell
Friday, October 6, 2023, at 1:30-4:30 p.m.
2123 Comstock Hall

SCHEDULE

Clare Casteel, School of Integrated Plant Sciences
Investigating microbe-plant synergisms mediating plant resilience

Monique Rivera, Dept. of Entomology, Agritech
Plant pathogen disruption of a belowground tritrophic intertaction

Jules David, Dept. of Entomology and UMass Amherst, Dept. of Biology
Pollination consequences of herbivory depend on pollinator identity

Gordon Younkin, Plant Biology Graduate Student, Jander Lab
Reversing the escape from herbivory? Knockout of cardiac glycoside biosynthesis in Erysimum cheiranthoides

Break: 2:50-3:10 p.m.

Rob Raguso, Dept. of Neurobiology and Behavior
Coevolution as an engine of biodiversity and a cornucopia of ecosystem services

Shirley Zhang, E&EB Graduate Stude, Agrawal Lab
Divergence in floral display predicts plant congener co-occurence through pollinator facilitation

Gaurav Moghe, School of Integrated Plant Sciences
Peeling the Onion: Unraveling layers and layers of causes for metabolic evolution in the wild tomato Solanum habrochaites

Diana Obregon, Pesticide Risk Assessment, NYS IPM at Cornell
Unraveling pasture’s impact on avermectin exposure and tolerance in stingless bees

Anurag Agrawal (James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) serves as faculty host.
Jennifer Thaler (Professor, Dept. of Entomology) serves as faculty co-host.