May 06, 2019, 6–7:30 p.m.
Lecture and talk will be in English.
Registration is required (please see the form below).
Please note:
On May 6, 2019, the exhibition closes at 4 p.m.
More or less all insects are heavily dependent on their sense of smell to find mates, food and oviposition sites, and to avoid enemies and harmful microbes. This trajectory of evolution has equipped them with an outstanding sense of smell that surpasses most other animals. But today we see a great decline in insect populations. That’s a serious problem also for humankind as we depend heavily on ecosystem services provided by insects, e.g. as pollinators and decomposers or as natural enemies of other, less beneficial insects.
In his lecture Prof. Dr. Bill S. Hansson, Head of the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, will talk about the highly developed sense of smell of insects and how it allows them to go about their lives but also how they can be exploited. He will also present a study initiated by his department that examines how human activities – in the age of Anthropocene – affect the chemical language of insects. In particular he takes into account the effects of ozone, carbon dioxide and nitric oxides.
The lecture takes place as part of the exhibition “22 – Molecular Communication” by the artist Sissel Tolaas, which will be on view at the Schering Stiftung from April 11 to June 24, 2019.
For years, Sissel Tolaas has increasingly focused on ecological themes. How do smell landscapes change in the Anthropocene? How do the ubiquitous dirt and debris affect our individual and social lives in the big metropolises? In their conversation, Sissel Tolaas and Bill Hansson will discuss the impact of the Anthropocene on human and animal smell and behavior.
Unter den Linden 32-34
10117 Berlin
Telefon: +49.30.20 62 29 62
Email: info@scheringstiftung.de
Thursday to Monday: 1 pm - 7 pm
Saturday to Sunday: 11 am - 7 pm
free entrance