Some Previous and Ongoing Research Projects:
Gardening for wildlife
Yards and gardens can provide habitat for wildlife in urban and suburban landscapes. That's good for wildlife, but it can also benefit people, too, by giving them the chance to experience or interact with nature. In a collaboration with the Minor Lab, I use various modeling techniques to examine the ways that people interact with and value the wildlife in their own backyards.
Ecology of electric transmission rights-of-way
Electric transmission rights-of-way (ROWs) are the strips of land found under electric transmission towers and cables. These towers and cables transport high-voltage electricity across large distances. Because houses and other buildings cannot be built beneath them, ROWs provide surprisingly large amounts of green spaces in urban and suburban landscapes. In fact, the electric supplier ComEd maintains over 5,400 miles of ROWs in northern Illinois!
The vegetation in ROWs is managed in a variety of ways. We have found that in residential areas in northern Illinois, ROW vegetation is either maintained as mowed turf grass, allowed to grow taller vegetation with trees and shrubs removed on a 5-year cycle, or restored to prairie. These different vegetation management approaches mean that the habitat quality within ROWs can vary. Our research group is studying the ways that vegetation management affects habitat quality in ROWs for birds, pollinators, and plants.
We're also interested in how people who live near ROWs use and value these green spaces. Our goal is to determine whether there is a way to manage the vegetation in ROWs so that it benefits both wildlife and people.
The vegetation in ROWs is managed in a variety of ways. We have found that in residential areas in northern Illinois, ROW vegetation is either maintained as mowed turf grass, allowed to grow taller vegetation with trees and shrubs removed on a 5-year cycle, or restored to prairie. These different vegetation management approaches mean that the habitat quality within ROWs can vary. Our research group is studying the ways that vegetation management affects habitat quality in ROWs for birds, pollinators, and plants.
We're also interested in how people who live near ROWs use and value these green spaces. Our goal is to determine whether there is a way to manage the vegetation in ROWs so that it benefits both wildlife and people.
Birds in corn and soybean agriculture
My recent research has focused on pest-removal services provided by prairie birds in nearby conventional agricultural fields. Agricultural expansion is a major threat to bird biodiversity. This is particularly true in the Midwest region of the United States, where < 1% of the original tallgrass prairie remains and remnant prairies are usually surrounded by agriculture. Ironically, threatened prairie birds may provide an important service to farmers by reducing the number of insect crop pests. Potential bird disservices in agriculture (e.g. birds as crop pests) are fairly well-known, but few studies have focused on potential bird services in conventional, industrialized agriculture. I combined ecological fieldwork with economic evaluation to determine (1) if birds provide a significant pest-control service on conventional farms adjacent to prairies, (2) the relative importance of bird-mediated services versus disservices, (3) how the services and disservices are distributed across a landscape, and (4) the economic value of these services and disservices. My goal is to determine whether increasing bird biodiversity near farms can help farmers decrease pesticide use while increasing crop yield, benefiting both agriculture and biodiversity.
North-central Illinois is a largely agricultural landscape, where corn and soybeans are the most commonly grown crops. Within this landscape, there exist several remnant and restored tallgrass prairie patches, ranging in size from less than 1ha to greater than 1,400ha. The Nature Conservancy’s Nachusa Grasslands, one of the largest prairies in Illinois, was my main research site for all field scale studies. I also had field sites at various smaller prairies throughout Kane and DeKalb counties in Illinois.
North-central Illinois is a largely agricultural landscape, where corn and soybeans are the most commonly grown crops. Within this landscape, there exist several remnant and restored tallgrass prairie patches, ranging in size from less than 1ha to greater than 1,400ha. The Nature Conservancy’s Nachusa Grasslands, one of the largest prairies in Illinois, was my main research site for all field scale studies. I also had field sites at various smaller prairies throughout Kane and DeKalb counties in Illinois.