Exploring plants, insects and floral microclimates

Jonathan Chai '24 worked for two years as an undergraduate research assistant in the lab of Robert Raguso, professor of neurobiology and behavior. Raguso's lab made the first discovery that insects are attracted to plants as much by humidity as by scent. Chai participated in research expanding on this work, exploring whether squash floral humidity plays a role in pollen viability and behavior of squash pollinators and floral predators.

How did you come to Cornell, and to this research?

Growing up in Georgia and California, I loved gardening in the backyard, and I built up a collection of plants, mostly carnivorous plants and orchids. So when I applied for college, I knew plant sciences is what I wanted to do. I spent a semester in the Liberty Hyde Bailey Herbarium and in the lab of Kevin Nixon [professor of plant biology in the School of Integrative Plant Science]. I then worked in the Liberty Hyde Bailey Conservatory doing a variety of things - repotting orchids, hosting tours and updating signage. One of my favorite jobs in the conservatory was pollinating the vanilla plants for an exhibit on vanilla bean production. Pollination biology is something I was always interested in. That's what prompted me to reach out to Rob in the summer before my junior year. I worked in his lab from 2022-24.

Read the full story in the CALS Newsroom.