About Speaker

Dr. 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.