Parkland students to present plant-microbe research at Kaler Science Lecture Nov. 6
Tickets for the Staerkel Planetarium talk are $2.
CHAMPAIGN - Two Parkland College students will share their summer research at the next James B. Kaler Science Lecture, at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at Parkland's William M. Staerkel Planetarium, the college said.
Gwen Happ and Kristin Palazzo will present "Rooted: Untangling Connections Between Plants and Microbes," drawn from their work in MICRO-CCS, a summer research program for community college students run by Parkland and the University of Illinois and funded through the National Science Foundation.
According to Parkland, Happ worked in Tony Yannarell's lab studying the fungal microbiome of the invasive plant Lespedeza cuneata, and Palazzo worked in Angela Kent's lab on how maize flavonoids affect denitrification, the process that turns nitrogen from fertilizer into the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Chelsea Lloyd, a Parkland microbiology professor and one of the program's principal investigators, will also talk about how to apply for summer research opportunities.
Tickets are $2 for everyone and are sold in advance at tickets.parkland.edu. The planetarium will show "Niyah and the Multiverse" at 8 p.m. after the talk. Kaler lectures are filmed by Parkland College TV. For details, call 217-351-2568.
Source: Parkland College news release, read Oct. 27, 2026.