The 10th Gordon Research Conference on Plant-Herbivore Interactions, which will be held in February 2007, marks the 27th year of an exceedingly successful conference series. The program features 25 scientists who are currently conducting pioneering and exciting research, and whose approaches include new concepts or methods. Major topical areas to be addressed will be 1) Functional genomics, biochemistry and physiology, 2) Plant-herbivore interactions in historical perspective, 3) Multi-species and indirect interactions, 4) Plant-herbivore interactions in marine systems, 5) Plant-herbivore interactions in evolutionary perspective, 6) Plant-herbivore interactions and global change, 7) Plant-herbivore interactions at large organizational and spatial scales, and 8) The future for plant-herbivore interactions research. The program comprises a mix of perennially requested as well as novel topics, with both empirical and theoretical emphases. Scientific approaches employed will span the range from molecular genetics to chemistry to community and ecosystem ecology.
Like all Gordon Conferences, this conference has formal sessions in the morning and evening, leaving early afternoons free for impromptu field trips, discussions, and workshops. The formal sessions have been scheduled to maximize discussion; program chairs will select, in advance, discussion leaders known to stimulate collegial discussion. Daily poster sessions in the late afternoon, with refreshments to promote a relaxed and convivial atmosphere, will additionally stimulate discussion. All attendees will be encouraged to submit posters, and history suggests that nearly all will do so.
Broader Impacts: This conference, like its predecessors, will set the course for research in this field for years to come. It will stimulate new collaborations, the development of new methodologies and theories, and interactions among young/emerging scientists and leading researchers in the field.
