Dr. Juli Carrillo

We study plant-insect ecology and evolution, mostly concerning plant defense against herbivory. Our approach is primarily through experimental comparisons of populations that have diverged in evolutionary history or that span a gradient of plant-insect interactions. For example, we compare plant defenses of native vs. invasive plants populations, and of domesticated crops vs. their wild relatives.

Projects in the lab are diverse, but often consider plant tolerance of herbivory and indirect defenses of plants, such as the attraction of natural enemies (e.g. predaceous ants or parasitoid wasps). Almost all projects in the lab address fundamental questions in ecology and evolutionary biology with a strong applied component. Our lab is affiliated with the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at the UBC Farm.