Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is an invasive plant species that has received attention from ecologists in many different fields. Native to Eastern Europe and introduced to North America in the late 19th century, it has become a pervasive member of forest understory communities and is of major concern for land managers and conservationists throughout its introduced range. Because it is so pervasive, extensive studies have been undertaken examining garlic mustard’s demography, its chemistry and its physiology. This work reveals substantial variation within the range of the invasion. Other ecologists have examined its effect on ecosystems, quantifying competition, predation, evolutionary changes and microbial interactions. All these studies together contribute to the development of control strategies based on studies of comparative behavior in the native and novel range and developing and introducing biological control agents. These projects have also been undertaken by a variety of different groups, ranging from undergraduates at small colleges to large university research groups and public or governmental agencies. We plan to bring all these types of researchers working on this plant together in a single session to enable attendees to seek synergies between these various research agendas, provide models for investigation of the ecology of other invasive species, attract attention from new perspectives and to forge collaborations over a broad geographic range. The session will end with a talk summarizing commonalities and variability, with an eye towards setting a future research agenda for this widespread invader.