Chemical Ecology Throughout the Tree of Life: From Theory to Practice
Scope
Anthropogenic changes not only affect ecosystems at large, but also interactions within and between species. Almost all species interact with their environment through chemical signals and cues, and chemical communication is the most abundant form of communication in life. Chemical communications take place between individuals of the same species and between different species at different trophic levels, to make decisions on whether to hide or forage, to find a sexual partner, to search for a resource and to avoid a competitor or natural enemy. Chemical communications are therefore crucial in the web of life.
In the postgraduate course 'Chemical Ecology throughout the tree of life', we will focus on how man-made changes to the environment can influence chemical communications within and between microorganisms, plants, herbivores and disease vectors. Since chemical signals and cues often consist of complex mixtures of multiple compounds, and responses to this information often depend on precise ratios of these compounds, chemical information is not only hard to measure but also particularly vulnerable to anthropocentric changes in the environment. We will not only focus on how chemical information can be collected and analyzed, but also on the environmental factors that can affect chemical communications and zoom in on the underlying mechanisms of producing and perceiving chemical information. There will also be two hands-on workshops on how to analyze large datasets in the field of chemical ecology.
The course is composed of a poster session, lectures, discussions, workshops, group work and an excursion.
Poster session
Prior to the course, participants submit a poster of their work (following a poster-format, which will be send to the participants). These posters will be displayed in the course lecture room throughout the course. At the start of the course, we will have a poster carousel session in which all participants briefly present and discuss their poster. Since the posters will be in the room for the entire course, there will be ample time for participants and lecturers to visit individual posters and discuss aspects in more detail.
Lectures and discussions
Days start with lecturers giving a lecture on one of the key course topics, covering both the general theory and applied aspects. After each lecture, there is time for an in-depth discussion between. All participants and lecturers can be involved in the discussions, ensuring a stimulating and fruitful discussion.
Workshops
There will be hands-on practicals, including big data and metabolomic analyses. One session will focus on "volatilomics" with mzMine and R/Metaboanalyst including experimental design, and one on analysing large datasets collected from public databases to gain a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in olfaction.
Group work
Different subgroups will work on the development of a grant proposal. Each group will present the results of their group work assignment to all course participants at the end of the course. The course lecturers and course organisers will be actively involved with the group work assignment. They will be available to the groups as experts in their fields both with respect to grant proposal writing and presentation, as well as the actual topic of the research.
Excursion
There will be an excursion to Wageningen Campus to get an overview of the experimental setups and equipment that are used for studying several aspects in the field of chemical communications.
Lecturers
- James Blande (Environmental Ecology Research group, University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
- Markus Knaden (Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany)
- Tara Mahendrarajah (The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, The Netherlands)
- Meredith Christine Schuman (Workshop) (Department of Chemistry, University of Zürich, Switserland)
- Jérémie Topin (Workshop) (Chemical Institute, University of Côte d'Azur, France)
- Jocelyne Vreede (Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Organisers
- Nina Fatouros (Biosystematics, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands)
- Astrid Groot (Population & Evolutionary biology, IBED, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
- Alexander Haverkamp (Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands)
- Gilian van Duijvendijk (Graduate School PE&RC, The Netherlands)
FEE1 | |
| PhD candidates of PE&RC / EPS / WIMEK with an approved TSP and WU EngD candidates | € 400,- |
| PE&RC postdocs and staff | € 800,- |
| Other academic participants | € 880,- |
| Non-academic participants | €1680,- |
1 Including accommodation, all meals and coffee/tea. It does not include beverages at the bar.
PE&RC Cancellation Conditions
IMPORTANT: ALWAYS read the Cancellation conditions for PE&RC courses and activities.
Gilian van Duijvendijk
Email: gilian.vanduijvendijk@wur.nl