UNR at Lake Tahoe Tahoe Series

Description

Toxins & Secret Messages: Decoding the Chemical Language of Plants and Insects” with Dr. Lora Richards.

Dr. Richards will share fascinating vignettes from her research that highlight how plants and insects communicate through chemistry. Whether it’s defending against multiple enemies or recruiting partners, you’ll discover how decoding these chemical patterns reveals the hidden stories of complex interactions in nature.

About the Speaker

Dr. Lora Richards is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno, a faculty member in the Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology graduate program, and Scientific Co-director of the Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology. She earned her B.S. in Evolution and Ecology from UC Davis and her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Utah, with a focus on tropical ecology.

For more than 16 years, Dr. Richards has explored how chemistry shapes ecological interactions and herbivore communities. Her work has established chemical diversity as a key theme in chemical ecology, linking metabolomics with biodiversity and community studies. With research spanning from the tropical forests of Ecuador to the Sierra Nevada, she brings a unique perspective on how chemistry drives diversity across ecosystems.

Event Details

📍 University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe

📅 Wednesday, Sept. 18

⏰ 6:00 p.m.

🎟️ Tickets available here:

Tahoe Series: Dr. Lora Richards