Research Interests: Chemical Ecology, Insect Ecology, Plant Ecology
Research Topic: The Function of Plant communication to Biological Communities
Kaori, as an elementary school student, was fascinated by plant’s strategies to transport pollen. As a PhD student, she studied plant’s defense mechanisms to escape from enemies through plant induced volatiles. Since then, she has been interested in both plant induced responses and interactions through plant induced volatiles. In her current project, she has focused on the so-called plant-communication; intact plant induces defense when a neighbor plant is damaged and starts releasing volatiles. She wants to investigate if there are some universal principles, understand ecological meaning, clarify mechanisms and identify volatile chemical compounds from plants. Moreover, she wants to extend her research to applied sciences in agriculture and industry.