Bennett Lab Mission Statement
Photo by Alex Tran, http://www.alextranphotography.com
We recently decided to develop a mission statement to help guide and inspire our work. Here it is. Let us know what you think!
Human well-being depends on the benefits provided by ecosystems, such as fresh water, places to recreate, protection from natural disasters, and food. Ecosystems’ ability to produce these services is declining even as demand for them is increasing, with worrying implications for both people and the environment. We believe that humans can interact with their environment in a more sustainable manner through purposeful action guided by research and education; however we often lack critical information about how human actions affect multiple services. We study these human-environment interactions to improve ecosystem management. Our research fosters critical thinking about environmental systems in a setting where communication of ideas between diverse audiences is valued.
Human well-being depends on the benefits provided by ecosystems, such as fresh water, places to recreate, protection from natural disasters, and food. Ecosystems’ ability to produce these services is declining even as demand for them is increasing, with worrying implications for both people and the environment. We believe that humans can interact with their environment in a more sustainable manner through purposeful action guided by research and education; however we often lack critical information about how human actions affect multiple services. We study these human-environment interactions to improve ecosystem management. Our research fosters critical thinking about environmental systems in a setting where communication of ideas between diverse audiences is valued.
Our research revolves around our interest in managing landscapes for multiple ecosystem services
Photo: Alex Tran
How do ecosystem services interact and how can we manage landscapes to provide multiple services? This is the question that drives the majority of research in the Bennett lab. We’re interested in agricultural landscapes from which we demand not only food and fiber, but also high quality water, biodiversity, recreation, and other ecosystem services.
In many situations, a trade-off exists between agricultural production and other ecosystem services. For example, in the case of agriculture and water quality, production of food might require fertilizers which can degrade water quality. Growing human population and wealth are driving increased demand for agricultural production as well as other ecosystem services, such as clean water, flood regulation, erosion control, and carbon sequestration. What can we learn about these trade-offs and the other interactions among ecosystem services that may help improve management of ecosystems to provide multiple services? What if focusing on maximizing the production of one ecosystem service (i.e., agricultural production) can make ecosystems vulnerable to ‘regime shifts’, rapid ecological reorganizations that causes unexpectedly large losses of ecosystem services and are often difficult to reverse?
It is really important to me to do research that is, in some way, providing a useful product (information, understanding, or some other tool) to the public. Thus, I find myself also working on other issues in ecosystem management, urban ecology, communication of science to the public and other policy-makers, and building understanding of theories behind ecosystem management (including the resilience of ecosystems and human institutions, and the use of science in management decisions).
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In many situations, a trade-off exists between agricultural production and other ecosystem services. For example, in the case of agriculture and water quality, production of food might require fertilizers which can degrade water quality. Growing human population and wealth are driving increased demand for agricultural production as well as other ecosystem services, such as clean water, flood regulation, erosion control, and carbon sequestration. What can we learn about these trade-offs and the other interactions among ecosystem services that may help improve management of ecosystems to provide multiple services? What if focusing on maximizing the production of one ecosystem service (i.e., agricultural production) can make ecosystems vulnerable to ‘regime shifts’, rapid ecological reorganizations that causes unexpectedly large losses of ecosystem services and are often difficult to reverse?
It is really important to me to do research that is, in some way, providing a useful product (information, understanding, or some other tool) to the public. Thus, I find myself also working on other issues in ecosystem management, urban ecology, communication of science to the public and other policy-makers, and building understanding of theories behind ecosystem management (including the resilience of ecosystems and human institutions, and the use of science in management decisions).
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Recent Lab News
We celebrated the coming of spring at a local sugar shack!
Congrats! Our lab group project (led by Kate Liss and Matt Mitchell) is published. Check it out: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/120189 Our new lab blog project is live! Learn more about how Montrealers are connected to nature here: http://esmontreal.ca Elena was featured in a "Teaching Snapshot" by McGill's Teaching and Learning Services. Check out all the teaching snapshots for a great set of ideas about teaching and learning. Yea! We've just been funded by the Sustainability Projects Fund to create an interactive blog to tell stories about Montreal's ecosystem services. Follow along with our twitter account, @ESMontreal. Matt Mitchell's paper on connectivity and ecosystem services published in Ecosystems. Check it out here. |
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Contact us:elena dot bennett at mcgill dot ca.
Department of Natural Resource Sciences and McGill School of Environment,
McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Rd., St. Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9
Contact us:elena dot bennett at mcgill dot ca.
Department of Natural Resource Sciences and McGill School of Environment,
McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Rd., St. Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9
