Recent & Upcoming Talks

2023

Making the best of pests: the value of bug-bitten tea and barriers to its spread

The strategy of encouraging leafhopper attacks on tea fields and the resulting tea known as Eastern Beauty oolong (东方美人茶 dongfang meiren cha) has been around

2022

Precipitation and habitat fragmentation impact population dynamics of a tropical understory plant

Selected References: Scott, E.R., Uriarte, M., Bruna, E.M., 2022. Delayed effects of climate on vital rates lead to demographic divergence in Amazonian forest fragments. Global Change Biology 28, 463–479.

2021

Delayed effects and habitat fragmentation: are we underestimating the effects of anthropogenic change?

Anthropogenic climate change is causing an increased frequency and severity of extreme precipitation events (i.e. droughts and …

Habitat-dependent delayed effects of climate on demographic vital rates in a fragmented Amazonian landscape

Background

Deforestation is a major threat to species biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest. Deforestation results in loss of habitat, …

2020

Using the right tool for the job: Understanding the difference between unsupervised and supervised analyses of multivariate ecological data

Ecologists often collect multivariate data with the aim of determining which of many possible predictor variables are associated with a …

Can a leafhopper rescue tea from climate change?

When insect herbivores feed on agricultural crops, they are labeled as destructive “pests”. In addition to decreasing crop …

2019

The effects of climate change on tea quality mediated by insect herbivory

The most popular beverage in the world, tea, is made from the leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis). The flavor, aroma, and …

2018

The importance of insect herbivore density to induced metabolite blends in tea plants (Camellia sinensis) and implications for tea quality.

🏆 First place in section. Plant metabolic responses to herbivory are generally elucidated using experiments that compare the metabolite …

Interactive effects of drought severity and herbivory on tea (Camellia sinensis) volatile and non-volatile metabolites.

Poster presentation. Plants often experience multiple sources of stress simultaneously, yet little is known about interactive effects …

Can pests rescue tea quality from climate change?

Insect attack is usually considered bad for tea yield and quality. However, it is well known that plants produce many secondary …

Combined Effects of Drought and Herbivory on Tea Metabolism

2017

Can Insect Damage Improve Tea Quality In a Changing Climate?

🏆 First place in 5 min talk category.

2016

A New Method For Sampling Plant Volatiles in the Field

🏆 Second place winning 15 minute talk.

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Non-linear effects of tea green leafhopper (Empoasca onukii) density on tea (Camellia sinensis) secondary metabolites and implications for tea quality.

Plant metabolic responses to herbivory are generally elucidated using experiments that compare the metabolite concentrations in …

Multivariate Statistics for Ecology and Baked Goods

🏆 First place winning 15 minute talk.

Generating and analyzing metabolomic data from tea plant volatiles

Poster presentation. Brewed tea is a complex mixture of thousands of organic compounds, many of which change in response to …