Dr Ailsa McKenzie
Research Associate

  • Email: ailsa.mckenzie@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: 01912226898
  • Address: School of Biology,
    Newcastle University,
    Ridley Building (4.65),
    Claremont Road,
    Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,
    NE1 7RU

Introduction

I am currently in my first post-doctoral position at the university after completing my PhD in October 2009.

Background

I have previously worked on habitat selection in bats and the significance of garden feeding in birds, but now work primarily on organic farming and its effects on birds and other taxa. Through this I have developed a strong interest in food choice – the selection of organic vs. conventional foodstuffs. Other interests include general agriculture/biodiversity issues, habitat selection and garden feeding in birds.

Qualifications

2005-2009 - Newcastle University : PhD entitled "Why is organic farming better for birds? The importance of vegetation structure, food availability and food quality".
2004-2005 - Glasgow University : MRes (with Distinction) Ecology and Environmental Biology
1999-2003 - University of Aberdeen : BSc (Hons, 1st class) Zoology

Research Interests

Organic farming, agro-ecology, food selection, garden bird ecology.

Other Expertise

Experienced in radio-tracking bats and birds. Highly proficient at agricultural seed identification

Current Work

Estimating the independent effects of different components of organic farming on biodiversity (NERC). (PI - Whittingham; co-PI Stephens Durham; Post-doc Dr Ailsa McKenzie).

It is well established that both replacing pristine habitats and increasing agricultural intensification is negatively associated with biodiversity. Agriculture is currently the largest threat to biodiversity of birds globally and is likely to be a major threat to other taxa. Thus understanding how to integrate farming and wildlife together successfully is a major goal to conserve biodiversity. Organic farming is one method that increases biodiversity relative to conventional methods of agriculture and it has recently seen large and sustained growth in developed countries owing, to a large extent, to consumers’ perceptions of the perceived environmental benefits of organic farming. However, despite decades of research the current state of knowledge of the effects of organic farming on biodiversity is that the former promotes the latter, but crucially the relative contributions of different parts of organic farming practice are not known. This problem could be solved with a large scale replicated experiment, but this would be extremely expensive. Instead we are taking a new approach by estimating the independent effect size between each different component of organic farming (e.g. pesticides, spring-sowing) and various different taxa and then comparing across these effect sizes. The review we propose will have implications for organic farming policy and be of relevance more widely in studies aimed at integrating wildlife and farming.