Project Description
My current work with the Plant-Insect Ecology and Evolution (PIEE) Lab involves identifying novel organic mulch alternatives to commonly-used black plastic mulch film in vegetable and berry agricultural fields. Through partnership with the UBC Farm and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), I am measuring the performance of these alternative mulches in weed suppression, pest suppression, and crop yield to validate their potential as more sustainable mulch options for organic growing conditions.
Additionally, I am interested in how habitat structure influences insect ecology. To that end, I will be joining the Perennial Ecosystem Restoration for Carbon Sequestration (PERCS) in Canadian Agricultural Landscapes research cluster where I will investigate how the vertical dimension of agriculture-adjacent habitats (e.g., hedgerows, forest fragments) affects insect communities and the ecosystem services they provide to agricultural fields.
Research Classification
- Community ecology (except invasive species ecology)
- Agricultural ecology
Research Interests
- Insect ecology
- Ecosystem ecology
- Agroecology
- Community ecology
- Plant-insect interactions
- Ecosystem services
Research Methodology
- Ecological fieldwork
- Statistical Modeling
- Laboratory experiments