Katherine R. Goodrich, PhD
- Professor
- Science & Environment
Affiliated Programs
Education
- PhD, Plant Biology (2008)
University of South Carolina (SC)
About Me
I believe students should experience science as an active and exciting process. To this end, I work to incorporate active and hypothesis-driven learning activities in my teaching. At the same time, I strive to incorporate effective teaching into student research carried out in my lab. I also believe that students should possess the ability to articulate scientific theories and concepts and develop well-reasoned scientific arguments.
I connect scientific writing to laboratory research by encouraging students to prepare research proposals, to seek outside grant support, and to participate in the authorship of publishable results. My ultimate goal is to help train inquisitive and scientifically literate individuals and inspire young scientists by engaging undergraduates. For more information on my background and teaching, visit my webpage. My research focuses on the diverse interface between plants and insects.
Plant-insect interactions are incredibly diverse and can largely be divided into interactions where plants co-opt insects as pollen vectors (for plant reproduction) and interactions where insects utilize plants as food sources and brood sites. Frequently these two sets of interactions are interrelated. I find it important to consider (1) insect perception of plant cues such as scent, color, shape, and texture, and (2) the multiple contexts in which plant cues, especially scent, may be used by the insect community. Specifically, I am interested in ecological (multi-trophic) interactions related to floral and vegetative scents and how plant-to-insect olfactory signals function in concert with visual and/or tactile plant cues.
Research Interests
My research focuses on the diverse interface between plants and insects. Plant-insect interactions are incredibly diverse and can largely be divided into interactions where plants co-opt insects as pollen vectors (for plant reproduction) and interactions where insects utilize plants as food sources and brood sites. Frequently these two sets of interactions are interrelated. I find it important to consider (1) insect perception of plant cues such as scent, color, shape, and texture, and (2) the multiple contexts in which plant cues, especially scent, may be used by the insect community.
Specifically, I am interested in ecological (multi-trophic) interactions related to floral and vegetative scents and how plant-to-insect olfactory signals function in concert with visual and/or tactile plant cues.
Media Expertise
- The American Pawpaw
- Floral biology, plant reproduction
- Wildflowers; native plants
- Plant-insect interactions (insects that pollinate plants and insects that eat plants)
Publications
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Goodrich K.R., Ellis* I., DeHaas* A., Senski* R, Savage J. (2023) False advertising with fermented scents: floral mimicry in pawpaw (Asimina triloba) pollination. International Journal of Plant Sciences. 184(6): 485-497.
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Goodrich K.R., Jürgens A. (2018) Pollination systems involving floral mimicry of fruit: aspects of their ecology and evolution. New Phytologist. 217(1): 74-81.
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Goodrich K.R., Ortiz* L.A., Coughlin D.J. (2017) Unusual twig "twistiness" in pawpaw (Asimina triloba) provides biomechanical protection for distal foliage in high winds. American Journal of Botany. 103(11): 1872-1879.
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Van Bramer S.E., & Goodrich, K.R. (2015). Determination of plant volatiles using solid phase microextraction GC-MS. Journal of Chemical Education.
- Goodrich, K.R. (2014). Floral scent in Annonaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 169(1), 262–279.
- Goodrich, K.R., & Raguso, R.A. (2009). The odor component of floral display in Asimina and Deeringothamnus (Annonaceae). New Phytologist, 183(2), 457–469.
* Widener UG co-authors
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
Botanical Society of America (BSA), Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB)
Awards
- Cynthia H. Sarnoski Science Faculty Fellowship 2019-2021
- Widener Faculty Institutional Leadership Award 2021
- Arts & Science Faculty Research Award 2017-2018
- Provost Grant, Widener University Funding for Research (2015–2016)
- Faculty Development Grant, Widener University, Funding for research (2015–2016)
- Provost Grant, Widener University, Funding for research (2014–2015)
News
In the Media
- Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens
- The Chattanoogan
- Delaware County Daily Times
Noteworthy
- Biology Faculty and Alumni Publish Research
Associate Professor Kate Goodrich, Inesha Ellis ’20, Allison DeHaas ’20, and Rebecca Senski ’19 have had their paper entitled “False Advertising with Fermented Scents: Floral Mimicry in Pawpaw (Asimina triloba: Annonaceae) Pollination” published in the July/August 2023 edition of the International Journal of Plant Sciences.
The team, in collaboration with Professor Jade Savage at Bishop's University in Quebec, Canada, investigated the pollination of Asimina triloba to identify sources of floral mimicry in pollination.
Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/biology-faculty-and-alumni-publish-research
- Faculty Institutional Leadership Award Given to College of Arts & Sciences Associate Professor
College of Arts & Sciences Associate Professor Katherine R. Goodrich has received the Faculty Institutional Leadership Award. It recognizes a record of leading initiatives that further the university’s vision, mission, and strategic objectives.
Goodrich’s leadership roles in academic affairs and related Faculty Council work have helped shape academic policies and communications between academic units at the university. She has spearheaded several major campus initiatives centered on improving our climate around diversity, equity, and inclusion, and these initiatives have all had positive outcomes on the central tenants of our “We’re All Widener” identity. Goodrich has worked to build a more cohesive, equitable, and inclusive campus culture at Widener. Her visionary and persistent diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership has been recognized across the university and led to her election as the first chair of the new Faculty Council Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Goodrich has focused much of her service activities on academic affairs and has contributed at all levels of the university. She served as chair of the Faculty Council Academic Affairs Committee for two terms (four years) and is seen as a strong leader at Widener.
Share link: https://www.widener.edu/node/22546 - Associate Professor Katherine Goodrich Presents Lecture at Harvard University
Associate Professor of Biology Katherine Goodrich, who is also the Cynthia H. Sarnoski Science Faculty Fellow, presented a lecture at the Harvard University Herbaria Seminar Series on March 10. The invited lecture, "Flowers, flies, and fermentation: floral mimicry and pollination ecology of pawpaw," focused on Goodrich's research on the pollination of the pawpaw, a tree native to United States and Canada that smells of fermenting fruit to attract fruit-loving flies for pollination.