Insects on Plants, Chemical Ecology, and Coevolution
Website of the Phytophagy Lab at Cornell University, led by Anurag Agrawal, James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies
In this post, you can see where former graduate student and postdoctoral members of our lab have ended up. Although all graduate students have been American or Canadian (and settled in North America), half of the past postdocs have been European and found their way back home. Click on the flags to find their name, location, and website!
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I am sorry to miss this year’s Ecological Society of America meeting, currently ongoing in New Orleans. I lieu of ESA, next week I will be presenting at the International Society of Chemical Ecology meeting in Budapest. In addition, I am happy to report that Paul Metzler has produced a comic about last year’s meeting… one highlight is below.… Read more 
Anurag and Jennifer are off for sabbatical for the 2017-18 academic year… but science in the lab continues. As a wrap-up, here are some news and happenings from the summer months…
Congrats to Jacob and Katie for passing their A-Exams with flying colors (see previous post on their cork-popping performances).
Anurag, Jacob, Katie, Lina, and Patty all attended the Ecological… Read more 
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Paul Feeny, one of the all-time great scientists who studies plant-herbivores interactions. Paul has been at Cornell since 1967, and was one of the founders of the discipline of chemical ecology. Over the years Paul has had many successful students, he taught a range of courses, and contributed to the communal… Read more 
Our lab always has a cadre of excellent undergraduate researchers. This academic year was especially great as five students engaged in various projects from the study of bumble bee foraging and learning to mechanisms of toxicity in the Malagasy stem-succulent genus Pachypodium. We are proud of and grateful to all of you… and best wishes to our two graduates, Aliya… Read more 
A long-held tradition in E&EB at Cornell (and probably at most institutions) is that of popping a cork when graduate students meet particular milestones. The bubbly can take many forms, from Champagne to sparkling water. For us, the most familiar events are the “A” and “B” exams, for passing the qualifying exam (to become a PhD candidate, typically at the… Read more
Thanks to all for another great semester of the plant-interactions group!
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The women of Cornell’s plant-herbivore group (Jennifer, Natasha, Zoe, Katja, Katie, Lina, and Aino) recently returned from the plant-herbivore interactions gordon research conference. Pictures below by Jennifer Thaler. As usual, Jennifer described the GRC as a love-fest, seeing old friends and meeting new colleagues. Especially fun for those in attendance (I was home looking after the family) were all of… Read more 
Last week in the Plant-Interactions-Group we had our 3rd JIGSAW session. Our topic was specialists vs. generalists in plant-herbivore interactions. I was inspired to cover this topic because it is a persistent issue, one that has been discussed widely in ecology for decades. Are specialists and generalists fundamentally different in their ecological and evolutionary relationships with plants? Is this an… Read more 
Cornell’s Plant-Insect Group, affectionately known as PIG, has been meeting for weekly discussions every semester for at least 12 years. In the old days, Paul Feeny and Dick Root would join us for inspiring discussions, merging the past with the future. These days, the Ithaca group, digitally connected with folks in Geneva, NY, is frequently a gaggle of over 30… Read more