Magali Proffit is a post doctor in Chemical Ecology at SLU in Alnarp. She won the first prize in French-Swedish Prize for young researchers 2012. Photo: Ian Dublon
Researcher Magali Proffit at SLU in Alnarp was awarded the first prize in French-Swedish Prize for young researchers 2012. The prize was presented at the French Embassy in Stockholm, January, 18. The theme for the prize was "Green chemistry serving human health".
Magali Proffit came to SLU in 2009 and is a post doctor at the Department of Plant Protection Biology, Chemical Ecology. Her research focuses on investigating interactions between species and the mechanisms, particularly the signals involved in their maintenance. Chemical signals, volatile organic compounds mainly, are one of the most important mediators of interaction between species. Therefore, Magali has been particularly interested in the role played by odours in mediating plant-insect dynamics in ecological and evolutionary time.
In her current post-doctoral position at SLU, Magali studies the resilience of chemical communication between plants and insects in the context of the ongoing climate changes due to increasing global human activities. One of the major consequences of these changes is temperature increase, promoting the invasion of species in environments that used to be too cold for them. These invasive species could disrupt the complex local networks of species.
– In the future, I would like to extend this project by including the effect of the increase in atmospheric pollutants, such as carbon dioxide and ozone, on these interactions. This study will provide a framework and applicable real-world model for predicting and understanding the impact of future changes in atmospheric gases on nature and in agroecosystems.
After her employment at SLU, Magali Proffit will return to France. In 2011, Julien Pelletier, a fellow French SLU researcher at the same department, won the first prize.
More information
Magali Proffit, magali.proffit@slu.se, proffitm@gmail.com, +46 40 41 52 49
Professor Peter.Anderson@slu.se, +46 40 41 52 99, SLU, Alnarp
About Magali Proffit at the French Embassy web, [na1]
About Magali Proffit at SLU
About Prix franco-suédois pour les jeunes chercheurs at the French Embassy in Stockholm
Press photo
Magali Proffit is a post doctor in Chemical Ecology at SLU in Alnarp. She won the first prize in French-Swedish Prize for young researchers 2012. Photo: Ian Dublon