We present the first measurement of the reaction p -\u3e a₂(1320)⁰ p in the photon energy range 3.5-5.5 GeV and four-momentum transfer squared 0.2 \u3c -t \u3c 2.0 GeV2. Data were collected with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The a2resonance was detected by measuring the reaction p → π0ηp and reconstructing the π0η invariant mass. The most prominent feature of the differential cross section is a dip at -t ≈ 0.55 GeV2. This can be described in the framework of Regge phenomenology, where the exchange degeneracy hypothesis predicts a zero in the reaction amplitude for this value of the four-momentum transfer
