Jennifer J. Charles
| Program: | Ph.D. |
| Major Professor: | Timothy Paine |
| E-Mail: | |
| Location: | 241 Ent |
| Phone (office): | (951) 827-4488 |
Education
- B.A. Botany and Agroecology University of California, Santa Cruz 2000
Research Focus
Integrated pest management strategies are best developed with a food system approach, thereby incorporating ecological, economic, and social elements into the deployment of tactics. The three major types of tactics include biological, chemical, and cultural control. My research efforts focus on conserving natural enemies in agricultural systems through integrating biological, chemical, and cultural control.
Agricultural systems are highly disturbed environments that lack resources needed by natural enemies to effectively control pest populations. Habitat management as a conservation biological control tactic aims to improve the reproductive success of natural enemies by providing requisite and supplemental resources. Natural enemy effectiveness is consequently improved directly by increasing individual fitness and/or indirectly by increasing densities.
My research questions concentrate on identifying disturbance factors, evaluating their impact on natural enemies, and determining the role of refuge in mitigating disturbance in the ornamental potted plant nursery.