Storer Lecture (Public Lecture) feat. Judith L. Bronstein | Jan 28, 2026

Judith L. Bronstein, University Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona Bronstein received her A.B. from Brown University and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. She joined the University of Arizona faculty in 1989. Dr. Bronstein focuses on the ecology and evolution of interspecific interactions, particularly on mutually beneficial ones (mutualisms). Her career-long goal has been to build a solid conceptual foundation for the study of these poorly understood interactions. Her current projects focus on their intersection with other interspecific relationships, as well as with intraspecific cooperation. She has won numerous teaching awards and has served in leadership positions locally, nationally, and worldwide. Dr. Bronstein is Associate Editor of Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics and Natural History Associate Editor of The American Naturalist; she has also served as Editor-in-Chief of The American Naturalist and as President of the American Society of Naturalists. She is a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and recipient of the American Society of Naturalist’s Distinguished Achievement in the Conceptual Unification of the Biological Sciences Award. She is an elected Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. “Why Cooperate? Mutualism in the Natural World” Biologists have always been fascinated by strife and conflict, but cooperative exchanges, involving all species and networking large numbers of them into complex communities, are ubiquitous in the natural world. This talk will describe our current understanding of mutualism as well as the questions that remain to be answered.