Skip to main content
School of Biological Sciences

Dr. Xose Lopez Goldar

Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Ecology
School of Biological Sciences
Office
JH Julian Hall 210
Office Phone
(309) 438-8167office
phone
Email
xlopezg@ilstu.eduemail
Website
https://goldarlab.weebly.com/website
  • About
  • Research

Biography

Dr. Xosé López Goldar holds a B.S in Biology and a M.S in Biodiversity and Ecosystems (University of Vigo), and his Ph.D in Biology (Spanish National Research Council). He also had 5 years of postdoctoral experience at Michigan State University, Montana State University (Wetzel lab) and Cornell University (Agrawal lab). He started his position at Illinois State University as assistant professor in Evolutionary Ecology in the fall of 2025.

Current Courses

BSC 290.020 Research In Biological Sciences

BSC 204.005 Biological Investigations

BSC 490.001 Biostatistics

BSC 420.001 Seminar in Biostatistics Laboratory

Teaching Interests & Areas

Student engagement; Coevolution; Plant-insect interactions; Chemical ecology; Plant and insect physiology.

Research Interests & Areas

I am an evolutionary ecologist interested in the drivers that govern species interactions, particularly between plants and insects. To do so I combine chemical ecology, population genetic and molecular techniques. I am broadly interested in plant local adaptation to abiotic and biotic stresses, how plant organ-specific traits mediate interactions with insects along environmental gradients, and how climate change stressors may disrupt plant-insect ecological and evolutionary dynamics.

Book, Chapter

Vázquez-González, C., Sampedro, L., López-Goldar, X., Zas, R. (2021). Genetic and Ecological Basis of Resistance to Herbivorous Insects in Mediterranean Pines. In: Ne'eman, G., Osem, Y. (eds) Pines and Their Mixed Forest Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Basin. Managing Forest Ecosystems, vol 38. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63625-8_11

Journal Article

Lopez Goldar, X., Zhang, X., Hastings, A., Duplais, C., & Agrawal, A. Plant chemical diversity enhances defense against herbivory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121.51 (2024)
Agrawal, A., Espinosa del Alba, L., Lopez Goldar, X., Hastings, A., White, R., Halitschke, R., Dobler, S., Petschenka, G., & Duplais, C. Functional evidence supports adaptive plant chemical defense along a geographical cline. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119.25 (2022)