Plant Galls Detectives

Calling all nature detectives! Who turned this tree into a zombie?

Join evolutionary geneticist Maridel Fredericksen and plant pathologist Amber Hall for a hands-on workshop investigating plant galls.

Help uncover the secrets behind these strange natural phenomenon and explore other fascinating plant-parasite mysteries unfolding daily in parks and gardens around Norwich!

Free, booking essential
For children age 8+
Octagon Room, St Peter Mancroft
what3words: feed.sketch.nation

Please note that tickets only need to be purchased for children taking part in the workshop. Each child can bring one accompanying adult with them. Children must not be left unattended throughout the event.

Access Information

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About Dr Maridel Fredericksen

Maridel is a postdoctoral researcher at the John Innes Centre who investigates some of nature’s cleverest tricksters, including phytoplasma bacteria that turn plants into 'zombies.' She loves studying parasites and the ingenious strategies they use to hijack their hosts, from zombie-ant fungi to waterflea-infecting bacteria.

Maridel is also endlessly fascinated by plant galls: highly specific, often beautiful structures formed when insects or other organisms redirect plant growth. She is an active member of the British Plant Gall Society and loves sharing the weird and wonderful world of parasites with everyone.

About Amber Hall

Amber is a PhD student at the University of East Anglia, where she studies what makes insects, like fruit flies, develop as male or female.

Before starting her PhD, Amber completed a pre-doctoral position at the John Innes Centre, where she investigated something straight out of science fiction: zombie plants. She studied phytoplasma, a group of plant-infecting bacteria that can hijack a plant’s body and re-programme it for their own benefit. Her research focused on the special proteins these bacteria use to take control, turning healthy plants into zombie-like versions of themselves.

Big thank you to the following for supporting this event: Field Studies Council, British Plant Gall Society, Alex Healey from the JIC Library and Archives, and Mariama Carter, Yeshveer Singh, Walter Hung, and George Seddon-Roberts from the Hogenhout Lab at JIC.