Thursday, Nov. 6 | Dessert with Discussion: A Day in the Life of a Seed

Join the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station community at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, for a talk, titled, “A Day in the Life of a Seed.”

The basics

• Time and date: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6
• Location: W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Academic Building Auditorium, 3700 East Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners; also online on Zoom
• Audience: Adults
• Fee: Free
• Registration: Register by Nov. 5

About

The presenter for the fall 2025 Dessert with Discussion talk is Dr. Lauren Sullivan, an assistant professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Plant Biology and resident faculty member at Kellogg Biological Station.

In her talk, Dr. Sullivan will share:

• What seed dispersal is, and how we measure it.
• How seed dispersal changes across different grassland environments.
• What seeds are being consumed in grasslands and how might this alter the plants we see.

The talk will be offered in-person in the KBS Academic Building’s auditorium, located at 3700 East Gull Lake Drive in Hickory Corners, and also will be streamed via Zoom. The talk is free and open to the public, and registration is required at bit.ly/kbs-DwD-fall2025. Both in-person and virtual attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions following the talk. Dessert offerings will be available during the talk.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. featuring the following organizational booths for you to connect with, and a cash bar!

• Native Connections
• Kalamazoo Seed Collaborative / Kalamazoo Valley Museum
• Michigan Botanical Society, Southwestern Chapter

Dessert with Discussion is a free lecture series that connects the KBS and MSU research community with our local community. This series is made possible through generous donations to the Dessert with Discussion Fund.

Send questions about the event to communityrelations@kbs.msu.edu.

About Lauren Sullivan

Dr. Sullivan studies plant ecology, which means she looks at how the environment, like weather and animals, affects what plants grow in different places. She is especially interested in seed dispersal, focusing on how seeds that arrive in new areas affect which plant species can grow there. Dr. Sullivan collaborates on global grassland research projects, where scientists from around the world conduct the same experiments and share data to learn about what shapes grassland communities.