I am very grateful for the generous travel support from Dr. Madelyn M. Lockhart Endowment and for also receiving a travel award from the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE), both of which made my trip to the 2026 ISCE annual meeting at Cornell University possible. It was an honor to be invited by Dr. Anurag Agrawal to deliver an oral presentation on my research at the “Beyond specialization: chemical ecology and coevolution of sequestrating species and their host plants” symposium, representing both the University of Florida and the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Although I have been working in chemical ecology for the past four years, this was my first time attending an ISCE meeting to present my work and interact with the chemical ecology community. The opportunity to learn about the type of research questions people are working on, receive feedback from leading experts and build new professional connections has left me feeling excited and inspired to continue working in this field. During the meeting, I was able to solidify relationships with scientists working on sequestration of secondary metabolites in Lepidoptera across Cornell, the USA and international universities. I also discovered new avenues for involvement, such as the Latin American Association of Chemical Ecology and participated in a metabolomics workshop, where I learned the typical workflow used at Cornell for analyzing metabolomics data and gained valuable insights for better annotating metabolites using SIRIUS.
This travel award was more than a financial help. This award allowed me to establish new collaborations that will shape my research over the next years. I am very grateful to the Florida Museum of Natural History, specifically the Dr. Madelyn M. Lockhart Endowment, for investing in my growth as a scientist and helping me build my future career in chemical ecology.
Ana Lopez Cacacho is a graduate student in the Department of Biology, University of Florida in the Kawahara Lab – Florida Museum of Natural History.
The 2026 Summer Student Travel Awards are supported by the FLMNH Department of Natural History, including funds from the Dr. Madelyn M. Lockhart Fellowship Endowment If you would like to help support this fund for future student awards, please go to: