Excited to see these two papers out! Continue reading
My research
Crop pollination depends on wild AND managed pollinators
I just published this letter with Toby Smith and Romina Rader, in response to an opinion piece in Science back in January. The original paper argues that high densities of honey bees can harm wild pollinators (this can happen in some contexts).
It also suggests that a first step toward a conservation strategy for wild pollinators is that crop pollination by managed honey bees “should not be considered an ecosystem service” because those services “are delivered by an agricultural animal and not the local ecosystems”.
This highlights a common misinterpretation of what ecosystem services is all about. Services are delivered by interactions between species (including Homo sapiens) and their environments at multiple scales, not individual organisms or natural ecosystems. Continue reading
New page: academic miscellany!
I’ve added a new page ‘Academic Miscellany‘ to my blog. It started as a way for me to collate interesting resources that I could access quickly instead of trawling through my old blog posts.
But why not share? I hope some of the links will be useful for you too!
On the page you will find: Continue reading
Pest and beneficial insects in apple orchards
My latest paper is out. It’s a leftover from my last postdoc at Charles Sturt Uni where I was working on ecosystem services in SE Australian apple orchards with Gary Luck and PhD student Rebecca Peisley – see her blog posts on her work here.
Our main research question for the project was to calculate the net outcome, in terms of yield, of all the positive and negative effects of animal interactions across a growing season. You can read our previous paper on those results here.
In this new paper we looked at another interaction, the influence of landscape vegetation and orchard ground cover on different invertebrate groups. I really enjoyed this project as it was an opportunity to explore an idea I had been thinking about for a while. I first got interested in orchard ground cover during my PhD, comparing wild pollinators in almond orchards with and without living ground cover. Continue reading
PhD opportunity!
PhD Opportunity: Ecosystem Services Networks in Multifunctional Landscapes
Supervisors: Dr Manu Saunders, Dr Romina Rader; University of New England
We are looking for candidates interested in applying for a PhD scholarship through the University of New England, Armidale. Candidates interested in insect ecology, landscape ecology, ecosystem services and environmental modelling are encouraged to apply. Experience with entomological sampling, particularly flying insects, will be highly regarded.
This interdisciplinary project will integrate theory and concepts from ecology, economics and agricultural science to better understand how to sustainably manage multifunctional landscapes that support agricultural production, nature conservation and human well-being. The project can be tailored to the successful candidate’s interests and could be predominantly field-based, modelling-based, or a mix of both. Field work will be mostly around northern New South Wales in a variety of land uses, including remnant forest, berry farms, dairy farms and mixed cropping.
Candidates must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen (or have Australian Permanent Residency). Willingness to work independently and as part of a team are important qualities. The applicant must be proficient in spoken and written English, have a current driver’s license and a First Class Honours or Masters level qualification in ecology, entomology, zoology or related area. The preferred applicant should also have a demonstrated commitment to science communication and outreach and an interest in natural history. Selection of applicants will be based on merit.
The successful PhD candidate will receive operating funds up to 10K, a new computer and access to conference funding.
To apply, or for any questions, contact Dr Manu Saunders: manu.saunders@une.edu.au
For more information on our research: https://ecologyisnotadirtyword.com and https://www.raderlab.com/
Applications should include a CV, a list of any publications (including outreach), and a cover letter describing your background and interest in the project.
Scholarship applications through UNE close 29 September 2017: https://www.une.edu.au/research/hdr/hdr-scholarships/rtp-scholarship
Invertebrates benefit agriculture in lots of different ways
Production benefits from invertebrates (other than pollination and natural pest control) are often overlooked in agroecosystems. There has been much more focus on the impact of insect pests. But invertebrates provide lots of other benefits in production systems. Developing sustainable farming systems is an imperative for our future – sustainable systems are those that produce food and fibre, while also enhancing human well-being and supporting ecosystem function through ecologically-sound management. Understanding how farms can be managed to enhance production via the benefits invertebrates provide is a key to sustainable agriculture. Continue reading
Methods papers from PhDs: pan traps for pollinators
My most-cited paper so far (although not really the most-cited when you take years of publication into account) is an entomological field methods paper. It was also an unplanned paper. It came out of my PhD data, but wasn’t one of my research questions.
Methods papers are great contributions to the literature, and I highly recommend PhD students consider writing one, especially if they are working on understudied systems, or find some interesting patterns during data collection. Methods papers have much broader application to diverse fields and sub-disciplines than the PhD results themselves might. Continue reading
A failed experiment: earwigs as pests and predators in fruit orchards
Field ecology experiments are fickle. Even with best laid plans in place, they can fail…Nature doesn’t follow sampling protocols.
When this happens, should you publish the results? Most people would say no, and I would generally agree. Failed experiments are different to negative results. The latter are important additions to the scientific literature, but the former have very limited use. The results of failed experiments will have limited value, depending on why the experiment failed and how many data points were left intact. But they can have some use as ‘what not to do’ baselines for other researchers. Continue reading
Bees and breaking buds
Long-time readers of my blog know that I think natural history notes are one of the most important parts of the scientific literature! Sadly, very few journals will publish them.
Luckily the Ecological Society of America does appreciate the value of natural history observations. I first submitted this note to Frontiers in Ecology and Environment for their Natural History Notes series. Unfortunately, the Frontiers series was about to close and they weren’t taking any submissions. But the editor suggested I submit my note to Ecology, where they were just about to start a new series called The Scientific Naturalist. So here it is.
Unfortunately it’s not open access and doesn’t have an abstract. So I’ve written a shorter note about my short note below; please email me if you’d like a copy of the original. Continue reading
Postdoc In Transit
I am currently in academic limbo.
My contract position as a postdoc at Charles Sturt University ended in December, after 3 years as a postdoc researcher and 3.5 years as a PhD student before that. At the beginning of March, I’ll be starting an exciting 3-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of New England in Armidale, working with Romina Rader, Darren Ryder and Oscar Cacho.
I’ve found the transition period between postdocs challenging for a few practical reasons. It’s not as simple as clocking off at one job, handing your pass in and turning up to the new place. And while there is lots of good advice online about starting a postdoc for the first time (e.g Margaret Kosmala’s Advice for New Postdocs and Natalie Matosin’s Postdoc-ing for Dummies), I couldn’t find many tips on navigating the no man’s land between two postdocs at different institutions. But do read Amy Parachnowitsch’s great post on being ‘an unemployed academic’!
These are some of my experiences as an early career field ecologist in transit. Continue reading
Ecology is not a dirty word 