Dr. Paul Barnes and Mark Tobler, Department of Biological Sciences and Environment Program, attended the UV4Plants meeting held on the campus of the University of Pécs, Hungary from 29-31 May 2016.  Dr. Barnes gave an oral presentation and Mark presented a poster.  This research addressed plant and ecosystem responses to solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) and included three Loyola students as co-authors.  Dr. Barnes also chaired a meeting session and was appointed to the Board of Editors of this association.

UV4Plants is a relatively new scientific association aimed at promoting and fostering research, collaboration, funding and public outreach on the effects of UV on plants, food crops and ecosystems (http://uv4plants.org).  At present, the association is primarily European in makeup (14 different European countries were represented at the meetings) but efforts are underway to interact with non-European scientists.  Dr. Barnes and Mark were the only Americans attending these meetings.  This meeting included presentations on UV effects on plants ranging from molecular to ecosystem-level responses and also included a 2-day training session designed to teach students relevant techniques and experimental approaches used in UV photobiology.  As a result of this meeting, new research collaborations were established with scientists in Europe and plans were formulated for potential future visits and exchanges between Loyola faculty/staff and EU scientists.