International Chemical Ecology Course 2025

Link to conference page:

(with detailed information on the program, the venue, registration, abstract submission, accomodation etc.):

https://events.gwdg.de/event/1003/

The course

• focuses on interactions between plants, insects, and microbes, but also delves a little into the chemical communication of vertebrates and even humans
• covers evolutionary processes, physiological and chemical methods, as well as new and upcoming applications

Program

Monday, June 23, 2025

08:00 – 09:30
Registration

09:30 – 10:00
Introduction/Welcome by Markus Knaden

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
Institute tour

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
Insect chemical communication in the Anthropocene
Markus Knaden (MPI for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Application of chemical ecology principles for managing vector borne diseases
Merid Getahun (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya)

17:30 – 18:30
Discussions on lectures

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

8:30 – 10:00
Evolutionary neuroethology in hawkmoths
Sonja Bisch-Knaden (MPI for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
An olfactory social language in the naked mole-rat?
Mohammed A Khallaf (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Germany)

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
When it's too dark to see: chemical ecology of termites
Robert Hanus (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic)

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Navigation by visual and chemical cues
Markus Knaden (MPI for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

17:30 – 18:30
Discussions on lectures

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

08:30 – 10:00
Student presentations (Session I)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
Student presentations (Session II)

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
Posters (Session I)

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Posters (Session II)

Thursday, June 26, 2025

08:30 – 10:00
Early days of insect chemical ecology research: World-wide mission to replace toxic insecticides with behavior-modifying chemicals
Tom Baker (Penn State University, USA)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
Locust olfactory neurecology
Bill Hansson (MPI for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
Insect pollination and plant evolution
Florian Schiestl (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
You smell great - Deciphering olfactory communication in humans
Ilona Croy (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany)

17:30 – 18:30
Discussions on lectures

Friday, June 27, 2025

08:30 – 10:00
Insect chemical ecology in China: Bridging fundamental discoveries and practical applications
Jin Zhang (Nanjing Agricultural University, China)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
The effects of infections on insect chemical communications
Astrid Groot (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
From fly chemical ecology to pest management
Paul Becher (SLU, Alnarp, Sweden)

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Biting back: How insect herbivores resist plant chemical defenses
Jonathan Gershenzon (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

17:30 – 18:30
Discussions on lectures

Saturday, June 28, 2025

EXCURSION

Sunday, June 29, 2025

FREE

Monday, June 30, 2025

08:30 – 10:00
Mass spectrometry based metabolomics in chemical ecology
Georg Pohnert (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
An inordinate fondness for symbionts: mutualist-provided defense, digestion, and desiccation tolerance in beetles
Martin Kaltenpoth (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
The evolution of chemical communication in deceptive flowers, beetles, and parasitic wasps
Johannes Stökl (University of Bayreuth, Germany)

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Eating plants for defense: chemical ecology and mechanisms of sequestration in insects
Franziska Beran (Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Germany)

17:30 – 18:30
Discussions on lectures

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

08:30 – 10:00 tba
Teun Dekker (SLU, Alnarp, Sweden)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
Behaviour and chemical ecology of above-below ground multi-trophic interactions
Jared Gregory Ali (Penn State University, USA)

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
Basic organic chemistry for chemical ecology
Sarah O’Connor (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Insect odorant receptors: functional studies and targets for pest control
Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly (INRAE, France)

17:30 – 18:30
Discussions on lectures

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

08:30 – 10:00
Unraveling the role of predation risk and predator chemical cues in arthropod ecology
Sara Hermann (Penn State University, USA)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
Let’s spice it up! Applying chemical ecology for sustainable vegetable production
Nicole van Dam (Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Germany)

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
Experiments

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Experiments

17:30 – 18:30
Discussions on lectures

Thursday, July 3, 2025

08:30 – 10:00
Environmental impacts on volatile-mediated interactions
James Blande (University of Eastern Finland)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00
Discusssion on lecture

12:00 – 14:00
Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30
Experiments

15:30 – 16:00
Tea / Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30
Experiments

Friday, July 4, 2025

08:30 – 10:00
Chemical communication in social insects
Yuko Ulrich (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

10:00 – 10:30
Tea / Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:30
Wrap up and closing remarks