By Molly Rosbach
How did the Garden Ecology Lab start?
The lab started in 2016 and grew out of my previous work as the statewide program lead for the OSU Extension Master Gardener program, which aims to provide Oregonians with research-based recommendations to support their gardening goals. But after nine years there, it became increasingly apparent to me that many of the recommendations we were providing were derived from research in agricultural systems, which are different in size and scope from gardens. I started to wonder what might be discovered if we were to focus research efforts on gardens. I took a leap of faith and funded my first graduate student with a one-year fellowship from the Department of Horticulture. I started sharing my vision for the lab, and luckily found a strong community of Master Gardener volunteers and associations who believed in this vision, and stepped forward to donate, fundraise and support two graduate students per year. This community has only grown, to the point that we annually support two to three graduate students and five to eight undergraduates per year.
What are your current research projects?
Our major projects are focused on plant-insect interactions in garden systems, as well as garden soil health. We recently finished up a study of pollinator diversity on native plants versus native cultivars (in general, native plants outperformed native cultivars). We are finishing up a study of flower flies in local gardens. We have another study looking at plant communities within Willamette Valley gardens to see if people are making solid choices for pollinators. This summer, we’re launching a field study to see if co-planting lavender with native plants can benefit native bee biodiversity by drawing non-native honey bees away from native plants and towards the lavender. We’re also initiating a study of microplastics pollution in community garden soils, to try and see whether garden management practices or proximity to roadways (for tire particles) are correlated with microplastics abundance.
How do students at different levels contribute to the lab’s research?
The graduate students lead the project that will ultimately become their M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation. The undergraduates help with all aspects of each graduate student's project, including data collection, database entry, pinning and curating insects, mapping and measuring garden sites and literature reviews. If an undergraduate shows interest in independent research, we try to find a side project that they can develop into an undergraduate thesis project.
Source : oregonstate.edu