Our research group studies the ecology of plant-insect interactions in agricultural systems and its interface with natural systems. We focus on two main themes: 1) The effect of diversity at local and landscape scales on ecosystem (dis)services important for agricultural systems, including pollination, herbivory, biological control and ultimately yield, and 2) the ecological, physiological, and genetic mechanisms of plant tolerance and resistance traits in agricultural crops.

We seek to improve our understanding of ecological phenomena in agroecosystems that can potentially inform management strategies important for more sustainable agricultural production utilizing rigorously designed field experiments at farm- or landscape-scales, combined with greenhouse and laboratory experiments that provide insight into the mechanisms driving the field patterns. We work with agricultural systems in Colombia, Upstate New York and Kenya!

You can find our expectations for lab members document here: Lab expectations 2022-2023. We work together to update this document every year!