RESEARCH

My research primarily looks at the effect of anthropogenic disturbance on natural systems and the subsequent effect of disturbance on ecosystem services within degraded natural ecosystems. Because many societies are inextricably linked to a healthy environment for their livelihoods, the loss of ecosystem services can cause a severe disruption within societal systems as well. Currently, there is a lack of understanding of the ecosystem qualities necessary to maintain certain ecosystem services. Much of my work has concentrated on understanding the ecosystem dynamics that maintain ecosystem services within human dominated landscapes.

My dissertation research investigated various aspects of natural systems agriculture and the effect of management intensity on abiotic and biotic factors important to the overall production success of the crop. Most recently, I have been researching the ability of shaded coffee agroecosystems in Southern Mexico to protect coffee plant production from climate variation and extremes associated with climate change. The results from my work showed that more shade coffee agroforestry systems were capable of mitigating the effects of climate variation on the coffee plant. First, the shaded systems mitigated the variation of microclimate near the crop plant so that the crop plant stayed closer to its ideal temperature and humidity in the shaded systems. This in turn reduced the amount of water lost through evapotranspiration because of lowered VPD in the system. The resulting effect of increased soil moisture allowed for better flowering and fruiting potential of the crop plant in the shaded systems.

Presently, I am researching how differences in management intensity may affect the resilience of agricultural systems to extreme climate events, such as hurricanes. In the same area where I was researching the differences in microclimate and soil moisture among coffee farms, a hurricane passed through in October 2005 causing large-scale damage throughout Southern Mexico and Guatemala. This offered researchers working in this area an opportunity to pool their ecosystem knowledge of pre-hurricane systems to compare with the ecosystem changes post-hurricane. Research of hurricane damage and agroecosystem resilience to extreme climate events will be more important as hurricanes become stronger and more frequent. This type of research can help inform farmers of the types of farming systems that can be implemented in order to protect their crops from damage in case of extreme events.

During to my fellowship with the Earth Institute, I have also begun various projects with a more interdisciplinary scope. First, I will use crop modeling to study the effect of different climate scenarios on the success of the maize crop. I hope to accomplish this in the area of Northeast Brazil, where the farmers are dependent on the seasonal patterns of precipitation for the production of maize. I am also working with other researchers to gain a better understanding of how natural biodiversity and agro-biodiversity may affect nutritional health and societal well-being of villages within the Millennium Village Project. This project will also investigate the scope of diversity on ecosystem services within the villages and the social cost of losing such services.