© Pint of Science, 2025. All rights reserved.
Nature’s chemistry lab is full of surprises! From reef-invading corals armed with toxic tricks to Aussie flowers orchestrating complex chemical symphonies, this session explores how living things use molecules to thrive, defend, and dominate. Dive into the wild world of ecological chemistry—it's survival of the smartest!
How Soft Corals Use Chemicals to Survive & Thrive
Pauline Lindholm
(PhD candidate, Lecturer, Griffith University)
Imagine an underwater invader that grows fast, fends off predators with chemicals, and takes over entire reef communities. That’s Carijoa riisei, a fast-growing coral using chemistry to disrupt marine ecosystems. Pauline is exploring its chemical defences to understand how it dominates reefs.
Exploring the chemical communication of Australian flowers
Rachel Jackson
(PhD candidate, Griffith University)
Australia has one of the highest rates of plant endemism, with around 90% of flowering plants unique to the continent. These flowers host intricate chemical mechanisms, using chemistry to attract, defend, and ensure the success of the next generation. While natural products have long been studied for human applications, symbiotic interactions remain poorly understood. What if we could understand their ecological functions just by seeing where these tiny molecules exist within a flower?
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