Rate My Professor Jared Ali

Jared Ali is Associate Professor of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University in the College of Agricultural Sciences. He serves as Director of the Center for Chemical Ecology, holds the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Endowed Chair of Chemical Ecology, and is Associate Chair of the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. His research centers on the behavior and chemical ecology of multi-trophic interactions, including plant responses to herbivory and nematodes, insect and nematode community ecology, chemical ecology, and coevolution. Projects examine trophic cascades, above- and belowground interactions, chemotaxis of soil nematodes, and evolution of plant defense strategies. Ali's investigations into herbivore-induced plant volatiles, plant defenses, entomopathogenic nematodes, natural enemies, and host plant interactions contribute to sustainable agriculture and insect diversity conservation.

Ali earned a Ph.D. in Entomology and Nematology from the University of Florida in 2011, an M.Sc. in Entomology and Applied Ecology from the University of Delaware in 2008, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University in 2013. He joined the Penn State faculty as an assistant professor in 2016 and advanced to associate professor. In 2022, he was named to the Huck Endowed Chair and appointed director of the Center for Chemical Ecology. His key publications include "Convergent evolution of hexenal isomerases in Lepidoptera and plants" (Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2026), "Flipping indirect defense: chemical cues from natural enemies mediate multitrophic interactions" (Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2025), "Neonicotinoid Insecticides can Enhance Milkweed Vigor and Subsequently Impact Monarch Performance" (Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2025), "Chemical ecology in conservation biocontrol: new perspectives for plant protection" (Trends in Plant Science, 2023), "Silencing the alarm: an insect salivary enzyme closes plant stomata and inhibits volatile release" (New Phytologist, 2021), and "Stomata-mediated interactions between plants, herbivores, and the environment" (Trends in Plant Science, 2021). These works elucidate plant-insect dynamics and advance biocontrol strategies.