East Stroudsburg University’s Provost’s Colloquium Series, an intellectual experience that promotes dialogue among ESU faculty, staff, students, and community, continues during the Spring 2024 semester with a presentation by Emily Rollinson, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences and Abagail Cahill, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at Albion College. “A Web of interactions: Invasive Insects, Native Plants, and Three Universities” will take place on Wednesday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. in Beers Lecture Hall. The presentation will also be live streamed on the ESU Live Events webpage.
Dr. Rollinson and Dr. Cahill will describe the development of a cross-institutional student-driven research project focused on a native plant (common milkweed) and the community of insect species that associate with it. Monarch butterfly caterpillars rely on milkweed as their only food source, but many other insects can also be found on this plant. A common invasive insect, the oleander aphid, is often found at high densities on milkweed plants, much to the annoyance of many gardeners that have these plants in their flowerbeds.
The presentation will describe the development of this project from a student research project at ESU into an ongoing multi-year, multi-university collaboration exploring the ecology and population genetics of the oleander aphid in the eastern United States, as well as the effects of the aphid on milkweed plants, and possible indirect effects on monarch butterflies. This work now involves biology faculty from East Stroudsburg University, Albion College (Michigan), and Bridgewater State University (Massachusetts), as well as students from all three institutions. The presentation will also discuss the findings from this research to date, and plans for next steps.
For more information about the Provost’s Colloquium Series, contact Lynne Ozgur, assistant director, office of sponsored projects and research, at (570) 422-7908 or lozgur@esu.edu.