Professor Miguel Altieri - Agroecology and Climate Change

Miguel Altieri is a Professor at Berkeley's College of Natural Resources. His laboratory is involved in several field projects in California where they are testing ideas of landscape ecology applied to agriculture such as the use of biological corridrs in pest management. The idea is to explore whether corridors can break the nature of monocultures by serving as a conduit for the dispersion of natural enemies within the field thus enhancing thier impact on pest population. The effects of summer cover crops on insect pest populations and associated natural enemies is also being examined in vineyards. Of special interest is to determine whether timing mowing cover crops in alternate rows can force movement of beneficials to adjacent vines to exert pest suppression. His group is also engaged in collaborative work with a number of universities, NGOs and research centers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.