Dave Mortensen
Professor of Weed and Applied Plant Ecology
Penn State Profile
Email: [email protected]
Broadly, I apply my background in applied plant ecology and ecologically-based pest management to improve the sustainability of land resource management. My work explores the interplay between the ecology of agricultural fields, field edges and forest fragments. My work takes a landscape approach to assessing this interplay. An example of such work assesses approaches to integrating weed management with the goal of reducing reliance on herbicide use. A summary of this work was recently published in an important paper that appeared in the journal BioScience (see below). I have a long-standing interest in making weedy plant management more sustainable through understanding how management tactics interact. Finally, I work on methods of enhancing weedy plant invasion resistance in northeastern forests. I balance my research interests with teaching such courses as: Principles of Weed Management, Plant Ecology, Flora of the Central Appalachian Region, and Ecology of Agricultural Systems. Finally, my interest in local food systems drew me to our University Community Garden where I am a gardener and faculty advisor.
Penn State Profile
Email: [email protected]
Broadly, I apply my background in applied plant ecology and ecologically-based pest management to improve the sustainability of land resource management. My work explores the interplay between the ecology of agricultural fields, field edges and forest fragments. My work takes a landscape approach to assessing this interplay. An example of such work assesses approaches to integrating weed management with the goal of reducing reliance on herbicide use. A summary of this work was recently published in an important paper that appeared in the journal BioScience (see below). I have a long-standing interest in making weedy plant management more sustainable through understanding how management tactics interact. Finally, I work on methods of enhancing weedy plant invasion resistance in northeastern forests. I balance my research interests with teaching such courses as: Principles of Weed Management, Plant Ecology, Flora of the Central Appalachian Region, and Ecology of Agricultural Systems. Finally, my interest in local food systems drew me to our University Community Garden where I am a gardener and faculty advisor.
Barbara Baraibar
Post-doctoral Scholar
Email: [email protected]
Penn state profile
I grew up in Barcelona (Spain), a big and busy city, but I always liked to be in the countryside. Some good advice took me to the University of Lleida to study Agronomy which opened a huge new and unexplored world to my urbanite mind. I loved it, and 16 years later, I’m still curious about how humans and nature interact to try to feed the world and do it without compromising soil health, water quality and clean air. I’m a great advocate of organic farming but I’m also interested in all sorts of integrated crop management approaches.
My current research focuses in understanding how cover crop mixtures affect different ecosystem services provisioning in organic agriculture. As I specialized in weed ecology, I’m especially interested in how these cover crops “cocktails” can help to manage weeds and the mechanisms that are driving their responses. But I also like to look at a broader picture and try to understand the role that landscape plays in shaping plant communities and ecosystem services provisioning with the ultimate aim to design agro-ecosystems that can accommodate both diversity and production.
Before coming to Penn State, I did my PhD in the University of Lleida, in Spain (2007-2011) on weed seed predation by harvester ants and granivorous rodents. I had a great time exploring the seed-insect and seed-rodent interplay, learning about ants and rodents biology and designing methods to enhance this biological weed control. When I’m not working I like to be with my family, practice yoga and read for a while in a nice cafeteria while having a cappuccino.
List of Publications
Email: [email protected]
Penn state profile
I grew up in Barcelona (Spain), a big and busy city, but I always liked to be in the countryside. Some good advice took me to the University of Lleida to study Agronomy which opened a huge new and unexplored world to my urbanite mind. I loved it, and 16 years later, I’m still curious about how humans and nature interact to try to feed the world and do it without compromising soil health, water quality and clean air. I’m a great advocate of organic farming but I’m also interested in all sorts of integrated crop management approaches.
My current research focuses in understanding how cover crop mixtures affect different ecosystem services provisioning in organic agriculture. As I specialized in weed ecology, I’m especially interested in how these cover crops “cocktails” can help to manage weeds and the mechanisms that are driving their responses. But I also like to look at a broader picture and try to understand the role that landscape plays in shaping plant communities and ecosystem services provisioning with the ultimate aim to design agro-ecosystems that can accommodate both diversity and production.
Before coming to Penn State, I did my PhD in the University of Lleida, in Spain (2007-2011) on weed seed predation by harvester ants and granivorous rodents. I had a great time exploring the seed-insect and seed-rodent interplay, learning about ants and rodents biology and designing methods to enhance this biological weed control. When I’m not working I like to be with my family, practice yoga and read for a while in a nice cafeteria while having a cappuccino.
List of Publications
Art Gover
Invasive Plant Research Associate
Penn State Profile
Email: [email protected]
Education:
MS Agronomy, Penn State University (2003)
BS Biology, Penn State University (1995)
I work in the area of invasive plant management with a strong restoration ecology bent to my work. In addition to my applied invasive plant suppression and restoration ecology work, I work with land managers helping them with a prioritization scheme for tackling invasive plant management on large tracts of land. In addition to my invasive plant control and management work, I have come to realize that invasive plant management is a restoration ecology problem. By that I mean, invasive plant control often isn't sufficient as often, the invasive plant recovers or regenerates from it's propagule bank. Therefore, a systems-level look at the problem that starts with the health of the invaded ecosystem must be assessed. Since many sites become invaded because of some former disturbance or poor land stewardship, knowing about these legacy effects is important and is central to a long-lasting invasive plant suppression approach.
Penn State Profile
Email: [email protected]
Education:
MS Agronomy, Penn State University (2003)
BS Biology, Penn State University (1995)
I work in the area of invasive plant management with a strong restoration ecology bent to my work. In addition to my applied invasive plant suppression and restoration ecology work, I work with land managers helping them with a prioritization scheme for tackling invasive plant management on large tracts of land. In addition to my invasive plant control and management work, I have come to realize that invasive plant management is a restoration ecology problem. By that I mean, invasive plant control often isn't sufficient as often, the invasive plant recovers or regenerates from it's propagule bank. Therefore, a systems-level look at the problem that starts with the health of the invaded ecosystem must be assessed. Since many sites become invaded because of some former disturbance or poor land stewardship, knowing about these legacy effects is important and is central to a long-lasting invasive plant suppression approach.
Matt Peoples
Research Technologist
Email: [email protected]
I grew up in a small Ohio town with a natural curiosity and infatuation with nature and science from a young age. Since graduating Earlham College in 2007 with a B.A. in Biochemistry, I've worked as a lab technician in the private industry, government, and now in academia here at Penn State. With a background in cell biology, moving into agriculture and ecology was a bit of a change for me, but one that I have thoroughly enjoyed. During the summer field season I get to work outside tending, sampling and measuring from a 2 acre corn and soybean research farm, an experiment that is funded by the USDA and being replicated in 3 other US states. During the winter after harvest, it's back to the lab to process and assay the aforementioned samples and prepare for the next field season.
Email: [email protected]
I grew up in a small Ohio town with a natural curiosity and infatuation with nature and science from a young age. Since graduating Earlham College in 2007 with a B.A. in Biochemistry, I've worked as a lab technician in the private industry, government, and now in academia here at Penn State. With a background in cell biology, moving into agriculture and ecology was a bit of a change for me, but one that I have thoroughly enjoyed. During the summer field season I get to work outside tending, sampling and measuring from a 2 acre corn and soybean research farm, an experiment that is funded by the USDA and being replicated in 3 other US states. During the winter after harvest, it's back to the lab to process and assay the aforementioned samples and prepare for the next field season.
Katy Barlow
Graduate Student, Ecology
Email: [email protected]
Penn State Profile
Education:
PhD candidate, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (2017)
MS Horticulture, Penn State University (2011)
BS Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Connecticut (2005)
I am intrigued by issues that arise when human development and use of the landscape intersects with the aims of conservation and desired ecosystem services. The development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas on Pennsylvania state land is one such collision of opposing human interests and is the setting of my dissertation research. For this national hot topic I am broadly interested in: What are the short term and potential long term impacts of shale gas development on local plant communities? What factors facilitate plant invasions within the shale gas footprint and what are the management implications for landowners? What restoration methods will lead to desired ecosystem services? Beyond the field data, I am using discourse analysis methods to assess how language used in restoration literature draws our attention to certain practices over others, and hope to identify gaps in the restoration process.
To address one aspect of biodiversity change we are monitoring the spread of invasive exotic plants to, and the dissemination from, natural gas development in the Pennsylvania State Forests. We hope to identify the key factors involved in exacerbating invasive spread to develop helpful tools for state and industry land managers to limit further invasion.
Our shale gas pad restoration work was covered by NPR's StateImpact Pennsylvania.
I completed a Masters in the Root Biology lab at Penn State during which I evaluated variation in root architecture of common bean for drought and low soil phosphorus tolerance in South Africa, Honduras, and State College, PA.
Prior to graduate school I lived in Thailand while working on agroforestry projects with an NGO.
Email: [email protected]
Penn State Profile
Education:
PhD candidate, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (2017)
MS Horticulture, Penn State University (2011)
BS Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Connecticut (2005)
I am intrigued by issues that arise when human development and use of the landscape intersects with the aims of conservation and desired ecosystem services. The development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas on Pennsylvania state land is one such collision of opposing human interests and is the setting of my dissertation research. For this national hot topic I am broadly interested in: What are the short term and potential long term impacts of shale gas development on local plant communities? What factors facilitate plant invasions within the shale gas footprint and what are the management implications for landowners? What restoration methods will lead to desired ecosystem services? Beyond the field data, I am using discourse analysis methods to assess how language used in restoration literature draws our attention to certain practices over others, and hope to identify gaps in the restoration process.
To address one aspect of biodiversity change we are monitoring the spread of invasive exotic plants to, and the dissemination from, natural gas development in the Pennsylvania State Forests. We hope to identify the key factors involved in exacerbating invasive spread to develop helpful tools for state and industry land managers to limit further invasion.
Our shale gas pad restoration work was covered by NPR's StateImpact Pennsylvania.
I completed a Masters in the Root Biology lab at Penn State during which I evaluated variation in root architecture of common bean for drought and low soil phosphorus tolerance in South Africa, Honduras, and State College, PA.
Prior to graduate school I lived in Thailand while working on agroforestry projects with an NGO.
Mitch Hunter
Graduate Student, Agronomy
Personal Website
Penn State Profile
Email: [email protected]
I am a PhD candidate in agronomy working with Dr. David Mortensen to develop ecologically sound farming systems that are productive, economical, and workable for farmers. I am also pursuing a minor in ecology.
My current research focuses on using cover crops to improve cropping system productivity, sustainability, and resilience in the face of challenging climatic conditions. I am investigating how cover crops affect drought stress in the subsequent corn crop, since drought is expected to become more frequent and severe under climate change. I am also interested in how diverse cover crop "cocktails" can be used to broaden the benefits of cover cropping, including by contributing to ecological weed management. I primarily work in a field experiment titled “Finding the Right Mix: Multifunctional Cover Crop Cocktails for Organic Systems.”
I draw inspiration from time spent working on Hunter family farms in Minnesota and Illinois and on ranches in California and Nevada. Prior to coming to Penn State I was the Federal Policy Manager with American Farmland Trust in Washington, DC, where I worked to promote on-farm conservation in the federal Farm Bill. I received a B.A. in Government from Harvard University following two years of liberal arts study, self-governance, and student labor at Deep Springs College.
Personal Website
Penn State Profile
Email: [email protected]
I am a PhD candidate in agronomy working with Dr. David Mortensen to develop ecologically sound farming systems that are productive, economical, and workable for farmers. I am also pursuing a minor in ecology.
My current research focuses on using cover crops to improve cropping system productivity, sustainability, and resilience in the face of challenging climatic conditions. I am investigating how cover crops affect drought stress in the subsequent corn crop, since drought is expected to become more frequent and severe under climate change. I am also interested in how diverse cover crop "cocktails" can be used to broaden the benefits of cover cropping, including by contributing to ecological weed management. I primarily work in a field experiment titled “Finding the Right Mix: Multifunctional Cover Crop Cocktails for Organic Systems.”
I draw inspiration from time spent working on Hunter family farms in Minnesota and Illinois and on ranches in California and Nevada. Prior to coming to Penn State I was the Federal Policy Manager with American Farmland Trust in Washington, DC, where I worked to promote on-farm conservation in the federal Farm Bill. I received a B.A. in Government from Harvard University following two years of liberal arts study, self-governance, and student labor at Deep Springs College.
Melanie Kammerer Allen
Graduate Student, Ecology
Email: [email protected]
I’m broadly interested in ecosystem services provided by plant communities in an agricultural landscapes and the interplay between crop and non-crop habitats. I really enjoy quantitative projects am struck by the compelling potential of models and statistical tools to generate new hypotheses and elucidate trends in field data.
I received my M.S. in Ecology in 2013 from Penn State and transitioned to PhD work during the fall of 2015. I'm interested in targeted implementation of ecological conservation practices in intensive agricultural landscapes to minimize production-conservation tradeoffs. Over the last few years, I have been involved in a landscape modeling project looking at the potential effect of herbicide drift on field edge plants and pollinators in the mid-west USA, and during my M.S. work I studied the role of plant diversity in supporting wild bees in PA apple production. When not working I enjoy hiking, gardening, music, ballroom dance and ballet.
Email: [email protected]
I’m broadly interested in ecosystem services provided by plant communities in an agricultural landscapes and the interplay between crop and non-crop habitats. I really enjoy quantitative projects am struck by the compelling potential of models and statistical tools to generate new hypotheses and elucidate trends in field data.
I received my M.S. in Ecology in 2013 from Penn State and transitioned to PhD work during the fall of 2015. I'm interested in targeted implementation of ecological conservation practices in intensive agricultural landscapes to minimize production-conservation tradeoffs. Over the last few years, I have been involved in a landscape modeling project looking at the potential effect of herbicide drift on field edge plants and pollinators in the mid-west USA, and during my M.S. work I studied the role of plant diversity in supporting wild bees in PA apple production. When not working I enjoy hiking, gardening, music, ballroom dance and ballet.
Erik Hagan
Graduate Student, Ecology
Email: [email protected]
I am a recent transplant to Pennsylvania from the “Wet”-side of Washington State, where I spent the last 7 years operating a diversified farming operation, designing and teaching farm scale permaculture processes, and working on local and regional food system and agricultural planning and policy efforts around the Puget Sound. Most recently, I was the South Puget Sound Small Farm Specialist for Washington State University Extension and Mason Conservation District, engaging agricultural producers to implement sustainable agricultural production strategies and Best Management Practices for stewarding Puget Sound’s natural resources. It was here I became intrigued with the application of innovative agricultural strategies that can provide for both enhanced ecosystems services for natural resource conservation while maintaining viable agricultural production within sensitive riparian corridors.
Currently, I am seeking a Masters in Ecology, working with Dr. Dave Mortensen and the USDA Agricultural Research Service lab to develop a Riparian Conservation Planning Tool for conserving and enhancing riparian ecosystems and water resources in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This project seeks to develop a decision-making and management tool to aid agricultural producers and professional service providers in selecting best management practice applications for stewarding on-farm riparian ecosystems and regional water resources given site-specific parameters and objectives.
I come with a diverse academic background, having received my B.S. in Ecological and Agricultural Sciences from The Evergreen State College (2009) after studying Mechanical Engineering at Drexel University and Plant Ecology and Ethnobotany at the University of Colorado. When not in the lab, you will find me tinkering on the farm, fly-fishing, or observing and questioning some geological anomaly somewhere on this vast American continent.
Email: [email protected]
I am a recent transplant to Pennsylvania from the “Wet”-side of Washington State, where I spent the last 7 years operating a diversified farming operation, designing and teaching farm scale permaculture processes, and working on local and regional food system and agricultural planning and policy efforts around the Puget Sound. Most recently, I was the South Puget Sound Small Farm Specialist for Washington State University Extension and Mason Conservation District, engaging agricultural producers to implement sustainable agricultural production strategies and Best Management Practices for stewarding Puget Sound’s natural resources. It was here I became intrigued with the application of innovative agricultural strategies that can provide for both enhanced ecosystems services for natural resource conservation while maintaining viable agricultural production within sensitive riparian corridors.
Currently, I am seeking a Masters in Ecology, working with Dr. Dave Mortensen and the USDA Agricultural Research Service lab to develop a Riparian Conservation Planning Tool for conserving and enhancing riparian ecosystems and water resources in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This project seeks to develop a decision-making and management tool to aid agricultural producers and professional service providers in selecting best management practice applications for stewarding on-farm riparian ecosystems and regional water resources given site-specific parameters and objectives.
I come with a diverse academic background, having received my B.S. in Ecological and Agricultural Sciences from The Evergreen State College (2009) after studying Mechanical Engineering at Drexel University and Plant Ecology and Ethnobotany at the University of Colorado. When not in the lab, you will find me tinkering on the farm, fly-fishing, or observing and questioning some geological anomaly somewhere on this vast American continent.
Leslie Pillen
Sustainable Student Farm Design Coordinator
E-mail: [email protected]
I work with a dynamic group of students, staff and faculty to manage the Sustainable Food Systems Program and Student Farm at Penn State. This program provides opportunities for students to learn about and engage with our food system in new ways, is a dynamic resource to enable faculty to teach more hands-on and real-world lessons about sustainability, and is a space for outreach, growth and collective learning about our own local food system. I think a farm is a powerful gathering space for dialogue and community building because we all need to eat, and most of us also love to eat!
I completed my MS in Rural Sociology at Penn State, where I studied land access issues for beginning farmers who join land link programs. Prior to that, I worked in agricultural education as Farm Program Manager at Community CROPS, a non-profit in Lincoln. In that role, I developed workshops and farm tours for aspiring and beginning farmers, and managed an incubator farm site where many of these beginning farmers started small-scale market farms. I received my BS in Horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Growing up in central Nebraska, the ubiquitous cornfields provided first jobs to many teenagers, myself included. While I can’t say I loved detasseling corn (especially since I wasn’t even tall enough to reach the tassels in some fields), I love that in my role now, I get to continue working in agriculture, and help empower people to more actively participate in our food system.
E-mail: [email protected]
I work with a dynamic group of students, staff and faculty to manage the Sustainable Food Systems Program and Student Farm at Penn State. This program provides opportunities for students to learn about and engage with our food system in new ways, is a dynamic resource to enable faculty to teach more hands-on and real-world lessons about sustainability, and is a space for outreach, growth and collective learning about our own local food system. I think a farm is a powerful gathering space for dialogue and community building because we all need to eat, and most of us also love to eat!
I completed my MS in Rural Sociology at Penn State, where I studied land access issues for beginning farmers who join land link programs. Prior to that, I worked in agricultural education as Farm Program Manager at Community CROPS, a non-profit in Lincoln. In that role, I developed workshops and farm tours for aspiring and beginning farmers, and managed an incubator farm site where many of these beginning farmers started small-scale market farms. I received my BS in Horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Growing up in central Nebraska, the ubiquitous cornfields provided first jobs to many teenagers, myself included. While I can’t say I loved detasseling corn (especially since I wasn’t even tall enough to reach the tassels in some fields), I love that in my role now, I get to continue working in agriculture, and help empower people to more actively participate in our food system.
Annie Klodd
Extension associate
E-mail: [email protected]
As an extension associate, I get to communicate the lessons we learn from weed ecology research to the agriculture community. Specifically, I develop educational material on integrated weed management (IWM) and the issue of herbicide resistant weeds. IWM is a diversified, ecological approach to weed management that is widely regarded as necessary for reducing the impact of herbicide resistance in agriculture. In order to transfer this information, I coordinate educational projects at both the national and state level. At the national level, I act as the outreach coordinator for a USDA-ARS funded area-wide program focused on IWM adoption in the US. These outreach projects include interactive online activities, news articles, and synthesis of existing extension resources, and can be found at www.integratedweedmanagement.org. At the state level, I develop educational programming for Pennsylvania based on the state’s most high-priority weed management issues. Alongside extension, I take part in research on weed phenology and the use of cover crops for weed suppression.
I grew up on a commercial vineyard in Iowa before earning my B.A. in Biology at Grinnell College and my M.S. in Plant Biology at Penn State. Throughout this time, I have remained most passionate about delivering sound evidence-based science communication to the public and the agriculture community. My plant ecology background has spanned a broad range of topics including grassland nutrient dynamics, desert plant evolution, and the role of cover crops in agricultural systems.
E-mail: [email protected]
As an extension associate, I get to communicate the lessons we learn from weed ecology research to the agriculture community. Specifically, I develop educational material on integrated weed management (IWM) and the issue of herbicide resistant weeds. IWM is a diversified, ecological approach to weed management that is widely regarded as necessary for reducing the impact of herbicide resistance in agriculture. In order to transfer this information, I coordinate educational projects at both the national and state level. At the national level, I act as the outreach coordinator for a USDA-ARS funded area-wide program focused on IWM adoption in the US. These outreach projects include interactive online activities, news articles, and synthesis of existing extension resources, and can be found at www.integratedweedmanagement.org. At the state level, I develop educational programming for Pennsylvania based on the state’s most high-priority weed management issues. Alongside extension, I take part in research on weed phenology and the use of cover crops for weed suppression.
I grew up on a commercial vineyard in Iowa before earning my B.A. in Biology at Grinnell College and my M.S. in Plant Biology at Penn State. Throughout this time, I have remained most passionate about delivering sound evidence-based science communication to the public and the agriculture community. My plant ecology background has spanned a broad range of topics including grassland nutrient dynamics, desert plant evolution, and the role of cover crops in agricultural systems.
Jess Bunchek
M.S. Candidate, Agronomy
E-mail: [email protected]
Penn State profile
I hail from Northwest Indiana, a unique conglomerate of Lake Michigan’s Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Chicago suburbs, and Indiana farm life. The area is also home to numerous steel companies, together leading steel production in the United States since 1980. Growing up in this fusion of beautiful nature and bustling industry sparked my love for addressing environmental problems from a botanical standpoint, and I tested this love as a higher schooler via beach and woods cleanup and restoration projects, as well as working on water quality in Lake Michigan and the region’s watersheds.
My lifelong fascination with plants took me to Purdue University (BS ’15, Minor: German), where I received a degree in Botany with an emphasis in Plant Ecology. While at Purdue, I was introduced to the world of Weed Science, and I had the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research with herbicide-resistant species, such as Palmer amaranth, waterhemp spp., and giant ragweed, in corn and soybean.
As a Masters student, I am working on an Integrated Weed Management field project, which analyzes cover crops as a tool for diversifying the management of weed species with known herbicide resistance. With the project being replicated at the University of Delaware in Georgetown, DE, I have the chance to work with various growing seasons, soil characteristics, and colleagues. After finishing my Masters, I plan to pursue a PhD and eventually work in research, hopefully continuing to combine my love for botany, ecology, and agronomy.
