The MLA program at the University of Guelph offers passionate and engaged students the chance to study a fascinating discipline rich with potential and boundless ambition to confront the complex challenges facing society through better design.
I examine marine conservation policy and governance, from local to global scales. I explore how decisions are made, how science and other kinds of knowledge inform these decisions, how various actors influence decision-making processes, and who benefits (or loses) as a result.
Studying the behavioural biology of cattle sheds light on how they see and experience the world, and ultimately offers us insight into their feelings. What drives their behaviour? How do the ways that we interact with them, house them, and manage them, impact their well-being? In our lab, answering these questions are fundamental to ensuring that the animals we farm, in this case cattle, live a good life.
Graduate students joining my team at Guelph get unrivalled opportunities to work in the lab and field answering research questions at the cutting edge of science with direct environmental and societal relevance. This important research is exciting, challenging and rewarding for the student, for me as the supervisor and for everyone else in the team.
I am engaged in questions of applied landscape ecology in rural and agricultural landscapes, including changes in landscape patterns and the consequences of those changes on biodiversity, water quality, and culture.