Science Under the Stars: Picking Your Poison — Exploring Plant Chemical Traits

Have you ever wondered why coffee plants make caffeine? Or why peppers evolved to be spicy? Ph.D. student Fiona MacNeill will explore plant chemistry, the relationships between plants and their partners—like pollinators and insect herbivores—and how plant chemicals manipulate interactions with other species. Plus, why this matters for people too!

Schedule:

• 7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
• 7:15 pm: Guided tour of Brackenridge Field Laboratory
• 8:00 pm: Talk begins
• 8:45 pm: Q&A with speaker

The talk will be held outdoors at Brackenridge Field Laboratory. The talk will also be streamed live via YouTube here.

Science Under the Stars is a free public outreach lecture series in Austin, Texas run by UT graduate students. Events are held outdoors at Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703. Find schedules and links for each event on the SUtS blog, Instagram, X/Twitter and YouTube channel, or sign up on their listserve to get event notifications.