Loyola’s Environment Program’s Presence at the 1st Network Meeting of the International Association for Plant UV Research (UV4Plants) at Pécs, Hungary

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.