Research Statement

Research goals

The aim of my research is to investigate methods of farming that align with sustainability and land stewardship. Agriculture is vital to sustaining billions of people worldwide. However, it is also one of the greatest sources of carbon emissions, environmental pollution, and habitat loss of any human activity. For these reasons it is vital to work together with growers, whose livelihoods depend on the productivity of their farmlands, to create agricultural programs that embrace sustainability without compromising economy.

In particular, my interests lie with conservation agriculture, which focuses on building a more productive and efficient agricultural system that provides net benefit to environmental conservation and works as a tool for the mitigation of global climate change. To this aim, conservation agriculture is concerned with three points: 1) minimal soil disturbance, 2) permanent soil cover, and 3) crop diversification. It is my objective to understand the practical applications of these tactics and to educate stakeholders and the larger agricultural community on the benefits of their adoption.

Pest control through crop diversification

Conventional methods of control of insect pests typically include insecticide application at well-timed intervals or periods of insect and weed pest vulnerability. However, even the newest and safest classes of pesticides often have deleterious effects to human and ecological health. By shaping the agricultural environment to promote a more diverse community of insects, arthropods, and plants (a process known as conservation biocontrol), we can help reduce insect pest and weed pressure for our crops while providing ecosystem services to the environment. Insect populations are in global decline, and many American farmers often struggle to balance their checkbooks. By investigating these practices of reducing farming inputs in exchange for more sustainable methods of pest control, we can practice conservation both ecologically and economically.

Relevance of past work

In my research, I have employed conservation agriculture principles by studying living mulch, which integrates a living cover crop into a given cash crop to provide ecosystem services such as nitrogen fixation and weed suppression. Within this framework I am interested in how conservation farming practices influence insect community composition for the improvement of pest control and species diversification. Additionally, I am interested in how these sustainable methods can be paired with existing pest management practices to optimize both pest control and ecological conservation, ie. how living mulch could fit into an IPM toolkit. At the heart of my work lies extension, as my goal is to keep grower priorities at the forefront to promote adoption of these practices.

Future research and beyond

While my previous work has exclusively focused on sustainable farming practices in traditional agricultural environments, I also have an interest in investigating alternatives to conventional growing operations. One field I hope to enter is urban agriculture, as this fits in with my interests of land stewardship, conservation, and the reduction of atmospheric carbon emissions. Developing productive croplands within dense urban centers saves fuel from transporting produce, helps with city greening initiatives, supports community engagement with the natural environment, and promotes a more resilient urban ecological community. My interests in extension come into play, as by working with community members in cities I hope to foster an appreciation for the natural world for those who would otherwise miss the opportunity to do so. Additionally, far down the line I hope to investigate the practical application of vertical farming and urban greenhouses.

Teaching Statement

Teaching philosophy

My goal as an instructor is to provide the building blocks for learners to begin investigating a topic at their own pace, and to follow their own interests. I hope that the skills gained from my classroom and lab will provide my students with the energy and self-reliant fuel to motivate their future studies.

A priority of mine as a teacher is to make the material as accessible and engaging as possible. For my classroom, this often means hands-on experience. I believe that to fully grasp a topic, understanding its practical application is an effective place to begin. Making mistakes in the classroom is an important part of learning. By providing the tools and guidance for students to stretch their abilities while also providing them with a safe environment to make these mistakes, I hope to create young professionals that aren’t afraid to take chances and are comfortable with asking questions. I also aim to show my students how the material that I teach them is incorporated into the real world, and how scientists in my specialized field have used this knowledge to make the world a better place. I believe in working through the scientific method as a teaching tool as it helps to foster creativity and disciplined questions-asking, especially for future scientists.

“One thing that stuck out to me was how well–spoken Leo is... He clearly knew the material and provided valuable feedback on most assignments, he was very respectful of all the students and did his best to create a learning environment, and was always willing to help! His enthusiasm clearly showed how passionate he is about his studies which made class much more enjoyable.”

– Anonymous student review

Field teaching experience and mentorship

As opposed to classroom teaching, I find field teaching and mentorship to require more individual focus and attention. Throughout my time as a masters student at UMD, I have mentored six students in field work over two field seasons. These mentorships included working with groups of three or more students at a time for field preparations, and one-on-one mentoring to teach specific field collection techniques. I am committed to not only providing a safe and engaging work and learning environment for mentees, but also to give them the full story when it relates to the project we are working on. This means that before engaging in mentorship activities, we go over the project as a group to ensure everyone knows the context of which we perform daily tasks. The same philosophy of active learning through enthusiastic engagement and encouraging questions applies to these mentoring sessions.

List of mentees:

Amy Goodman, Entomology, Weed Sciences, + Crop Management, University of Maryland. 2024
Kaden Ireland, Entomology, Weed Sciences, + Crop Management, University of Maryland. 2024
Alex Shelly, Weed Sciences, Poolesville High School. 2023
Rian Neal, Entomology + Crop Management, University of Maryland. 2023
Rajiv Esua, Entomology + Crop Management, University of Maryland. 2023
Paisley Brock, Entomology + Crop Management, University of Maryland. 2023
Joshua Yueh, Entomology, North Carolina State University. 2021

Classroom teaching

During my time as a masters student at the University of Maryland, I was able to serve as a graduate teaching assistant for two semesters. As a relatively new teacher, I am thankful for these opportunities, which allowed me to begin developing my own teaching philosophy and gain a new perspective on student-teacher dynamics. My teaching experience in the classroom included leading lab activities and providing lectures for BSC 120- Insects, which is an introduction to Entomology. This class serves as a general introduction to insect taxonomy, evolution, diversity, anatomy, biology, and ecology. As it includes curriculum from a broad range of disciplines, it is vital to be well versed in all topics mentioned, and requires the teacher to be able to holistically interconnect these topics into a lesson-plan easily digestible for undergraduate students. For this class, I was in charge of setting up weekly hands-on lab activities, lead activities involving dissection, provide instructions for live insect care, coordinate tours with the UMD insect zoo, grade weekly assignments, and update and sometimes create weekly half-hour long lectures.

My goals for classroom teaching are to be as clear as possible, and encourage in-class question asking. What I have found in my experience as both an instructor and a student is that if one student is confused about something, it is likely that multiple people share the same question. For this reason, I always wrap up my lectures with a question time, and during lectures I actively engage with students to ensure that they understand as the material is being presented. Additionally, I strive to make my teaching style as passionate as possible. By sharing with students my own enthusiasm for Entomology, I hope to inspire their own fledgling passion, or at the very least keep their attention for the span of class. I believe that due to these teaching principles my students feel more engaged with the lecture and end up fully grasping the material better.

“I learned a ton over the course of this summer. This was my first time working in a research lab, so I took away a lot... Before working in the Hooks Lab, I thought the majority of research had little/no real world application, and was just conducted by people working towards their PhDs. However, working in the cantaloupe study showed massive real world applications... and if the results are what we are hoping for, hopefully [they] will be employed by farmers everywhere.”

-Anonymous mentee review