Julie Botzas-Coluni
Degrees Received
2020- M.Sc. in Natural Resource Sciences - McGill University
2016- B.Sc. Honours in Environmental Biology (Specialization in Plant Biology) – McGill University
Current Position
Research Assistant
Research Interests
When we think of agricultural landscapes, we mainly think of food production. Yet, agroecosystems both provide and depend on many other ecosystem services in order to function properly, including pollination, nutrient cycling and recreation, to name a few. These services are vital for the maintenance of ecosystem health, productivity and resilience. Without them food security and the health of surrounding ecosystems would ultimately decline. Therefore, agricultural landscapes need to be designed and managed so that trade-offs between production and ecosystem health are minimized and the provision of services is optimized overall. My research will be looking at how landscape fragmentation affects the provision of ecosystem services within and around agroecosystems and how we can configure these landscapes for multifunctionality.
Specifically, I am interested in seeing how landscape fragmentation affects the capacity of an ecosystem to provide us with services. Using a combination of GIS and field work, I will be looking at how the size, shape and connectivity of different land covers within and around agroecosystems affects the overall provision of key services.
Previous Work
During the last year of my Bsc, I completed an honours thesis where I compared the ecosystem services provided by conventionally managed versus organically managed farms. I sampled four different farms, measuring indicators of various ecosystem services including pollinator, predator and earthworm abundances, soil carbon, organic matter, nutrients and phosphorus saturation, and weed diversity. I also conducted surveys geared towards the farmers to learn more about their management practices. I found interesting trade-offs between the two management styles. One example was the organic vegetable farm's use of organic fertilizers which increased provision of soil fertility and nutrient cycling, however greatly decresead provision of water quality regulation, as it had levels of soil P saturation higher than the acceptable threshold of 10%, posing a risk to neighboring watersheds. This study highlighted the importance of understanding the different synergies and trade-offs that occur between services in order to make informed management decisions.
After receiving my BSc, I completed three internships abroad; one working on a permaculture farm in Guatemala alongside indigenous farmers, another working in a botanical garden in Bolivia and the last working for an environmental NGO in Peru. These experiences allowed me to learn a lot about the different agricultural, environmental and social challenges faced around the world. Seeing first hand the impacts that prolonged droughts, floods or even political instability have had on farmers and their livelihoods made me realize the importance of managing our agricultural landscapes for resilience and multifunctionality.
Selected Awards and Scholarships
Walter M. Stewart Postgraduate Scholarship in Agriculture (2017)
Graduate Excellence Award (2017)
NSERC USRA (2015)
Dorothy Newton Swales Prize (2015)
Lara Drummond Entrance Scholarship (2013-2016)
South Shore University Women's Club Scholarship (2013)
Other Interests
Travelling, hiking, cooking, knitting, running
2020- M.Sc. in Natural Resource Sciences - McGill University
2016- B.Sc. Honours in Environmental Biology (Specialization in Plant Biology) – McGill University
Current Position
Research Assistant
Research Interests
When we think of agricultural landscapes, we mainly think of food production. Yet, agroecosystems both provide and depend on many other ecosystem services in order to function properly, including pollination, nutrient cycling and recreation, to name a few. These services are vital for the maintenance of ecosystem health, productivity and resilience. Without them food security and the health of surrounding ecosystems would ultimately decline. Therefore, agricultural landscapes need to be designed and managed so that trade-offs between production and ecosystem health are minimized and the provision of services is optimized overall. My research will be looking at how landscape fragmentation affects the provision of ecosystem services within and around agroecosystems and how we can configure these landscapes for multifunctionality.
Specifically, I am interested in seeing how landscape fragmentation affects the capacity of an ecosystem to provide us with services. Using a combination of GIS and field work, I will be looking at how the size, shape and connectivity of different land covers within and around agroecosystems affects the overall provision of key services.
Previous Work
During the last year of my Bsc, I completed an honours thesis where I compared the ecosystem services provided by conventionally managed versus organically managed farms. I sampled four different farms, measuring indicators of various ecosystem services including pollinator, predator and earthworm abundances, soil carbon, organic matter, nutrients and phosphorus saturation, and weed diversity. I also conducted surveys geared towards the farmers to learn more about their management practices. I found interesting trade-offs between the two management styles. One example was the organic vegetable farm's use of organic fertilizers which increased provision of soil fertility and nutrient cycling, however greatly decresead provision of water quality regulation, as it had levels of soil P saturation higher than the acceptable threshold of 10%, posing a risk to neighboring watersheds. This study highlighted the importance of understanding the different synergies and trade-offs that occur between services in order to make informed management decisions.
After receiving my BSc, I completed three internships abroad; one working on a permaculture farm in Guatemala alongside indigenous farmers, another working in a botanical garden in Bolivia and the last working for an environmental NGO in Peru. These experiences allowed me to learn a lot about the different agricultural, environmental and social challenges faced around the world. Seeing first hand the impacts that prolonged droughts, floods or even political instability have had on farmers and their livelihoods made me realize the importance of managing our agricultural landscapes for resilience and multifunctionality.
Selected Awards and Scholarships
Walter M. Stewart Postgraduate Scholarship in Agriculture (2017)
Graduate Excellence Award (2017)
NSERC USRA (2015)
Dorothy Newton Swales Prize (2015)
Lara Drummond Entrance Scholarship (2013-2016)
South Shore University Women's Club Scholarship (2013)
Other Interests
Travelling, hiking, cooking, knitting, running