Biological Control- Universidad de Talca

My research interest relate to Agroecology. I have focuses on natural enemy movement, between crops, between crop-associated habitats and natural environments, at the population and the landscape scale. My main focus had to do with the use of these habitats in relation to biological control. Understanding the seasonal movement of natural enemies and the quantification of the role of ‘sinks’ or ‘sources’ of predators and parasitoids in agroecosystems has been carried out in my lab, using a combination of molecular (diet analyses), population genetics (microsatellite markers) and behavioural approaches. More recently we have also included the role of spiders under different management conditions in apple orchards.

We are now committed as well to a new transdisciplinary approach to increase the adoption of agroecological practices among farmers in central Chile. We seek to identify barriers to gran-scale adoption, and with this information will develop methods together with the communities to increase natural pest control, as well other relevant ecosystem services, such as pollination, all coupled to human well being