Dr. Adrienne Godschalx – When is a pest not a pest? How soil food webs shape plant-insect interactions
Plant biochemistry fundamentally influences the function of all terrestrial ecosystems on our planet. Root exudates fuel diverse communities of bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and protists, who, in turn, build structure and cycle nutrients. My talk will explore how predator-prey interactions in the soil shape the above ground interactions between plants and insects. Insects are not pests when they are unable to outbreak on highly-defended, nutrient-dense plants, and instead, are food for predatory insects and birds. Come learn how we can eliminate pesticides by restoring soil food webs.
Speaker
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Dr. Adrienne GodschalxSoil Food Web School Mentor and ResearcherDr. Adrienne Godschalx studied chemical ecology at Portland State University and conducted her PhD research on nitrogen-fixing rhizobia and how a plant’s belowground symbiosis can affect leaf chemistry, and as a result, the plant’s relationship with insects, both herbivore pests and beneficial predators. She pursued her research further as a postdoc at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where she investigated the volatile organic compounds plants emit as signals to microbes and insects. When Adrienne started working as a Mentor for the Soil Food Web School, she was bewildered by the potency of the soil food web in plant health and plant-insect interactions: that leaving the harmful -icides aside and restoring the soil food web can nourish nutrient-rich, naturally-defended plants. Adrienne is thrilled to have a tangible way to engage in symbiosis with the beautiful wild world.