Living with Enemies: Phenolic Defence Strategies in Salicaceous Trees

Speaker: Prof. Benedicte R. Albrectsen, Umea University, Sweden

Talk:  Living with Enemies: Phenolic Defence Strategies in Salicaceous Trees

Time: 12.06.2026, 09:00

Venue: Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Abrahama 58, hall 042B

Benedicte R. Albrectsen is a plant biologist specialising in chemical ecology, with a focus on plant–arthropod and plant–microbe interactions. Her research spans physiology, molecular biology, ecology, and evolution, aiming to understand how plants defend themselves and adapt under pressure.

She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Copenhagen, a PhD from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and completed a postdoc at Vassar College, New York. She is currently associate professor at Umeå University and a researcher at Umeå Plant Science Centre.

Her work explores the biosynthesis and ecological function of phenolic defence compounds in Salicaceous trees, and she is especially driven by two questions: “Why is the world green?”, and how can plant resistance be understood across scales - from plant to landscape - to support sustainable agriculture and forestry.

She leads initiatives on forest and agricultural systems, including the N’TOP-net (Nordic seed potato), and contributes to projects that connect fundamental plant biology with real-world challenges in climate adaptation and resilient plant production systems.