The Hitchcock Center for Chemical-Ecology at the University of Nevada, Reno is hosting a symposium that brings together professionals and interested parties in the field of chemical-ecology today through June 9, 2023, at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. The goal of the symposium is to provide an opportunity for the exchange of ideas on relevant current and future research topics in this field and other related areas. The Hitchcock Center was founded in 2011 with a specific focus on investigating how organisms interact with their surroundings. This includes studying the chemical signals and cues that are essential in these interactions.

The two-day schedule includes keynote presentations and short-form talks from leading researchers with titles like “Bad Bugs, Pungent Parasites and Toxic Travelers" and “Toxic Nectar and Bee Kombucha: Chemistry mediates plant and pollinator interactions with microbes.” Presenting researchers will be in attendance from institutions from around the country and world including University of Wisconsin – Madison; University of California, Davis; Pennsylvania State University; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and the University of São Paulo.

The opening keynote speaker was Jared Ali, Director of the Center for Chemical Ecology and the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Endowed Chair of Chemical Ecology at Pennsylvania State University.

The worldwide recognition of the Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology has made the University of Nevada, Reno the place to conduct chemical ecology research, attracting scholars from all over the globe and from all different scientific disciplines. The formalization of the center was largely funded by a generous donation from biochemist and developer of life-saving anti-viral drugs, Mick Hitchcock.