Michigan Botanical Club, SW Chapter Presents
The Anthropocene: Human-Caused Threats to Native Plants and How Humans Can Tip the Balance to Restore Them
Jennifer Lau (MSU Kellogg Biological Station)
At the People’s Church, February 19, 2018 at 7:00 PM
(Socializing begins at 6:30 PM)
In her program Dr. Jennifer Lau explores recent work on human-induced environmental change and its impact on native plant populations. Her presentation includes a survey of recent studies on global warming and the unprecedented spread of invasive plant species. These environmental disturbances, Dr. Lau argues, are threatening native plants in a number of ways. Dr. Lau will document threats, point out the consequences of these profound environmental changes on plant communities, and suggest ways that human actions can help to counter the threats to our native flora.
Dr. Jennifer Lau is an Associate Professor of Plant Biology at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station & Department of Plant Biology. Dr. Lau studies the ecology and evolution of plants and the herbivores, pollinators, and microbes they interact with. Her research projects include studies investigating how plants and the microbes they interact with respond to drought stress, studies testing theoretical predictions that nitrogen deposition will cause the evolution of less cooperative rhizobium mutualists, and field experiments testing how various global changes alter plant evolution or restoration success. Dr. Lau received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, her PhD from the University of California at Davis, and completed a postdoc at the University of Minnesota. She was awarded the American Society of Naturalists Young Investigators Award, has served as an associate editor for the Journal of Ecology, Oecologia, American Journal of Botany, and The American Naturalist, is a member of the American Society of Naturalists executive board, and has received multiple teaching awards for her efforts to bring authentic research experiences to undergraduate classrooms.