Midday Talk: Forestry and Design Series

Dr. Sandy Smith, Daniels Faculty, “Urban Forests”

Dr. Sandy Smith is the newly appointed director of the Daniels Faculty's forestry graduate programs. She specializes in forest health and urban forests, specifically using natural controls to address invasive species, with research focused on biological control of forest insects, earthworms, and plants such as dog-strangling vine and Phragmites. She has published over 140 papers and reports, served as guest editor and reviewer for numerous refereed journals, NSERC panels, and on scientific panels for managing invasive insects such as the Asian Long-Horned Beetle and Emerald Ash Borer.

Sandy is best known for her contributions augmenting native natural enemies for biological control in forested systems, widely cited work still definitive in the field, however, her current research explores hypotheses around displacement of native species in order to better understand our ability to manage the invasion process in forest ecosystems. Her specific interests are in the population and community ecology of natural enemies following the introduction of exotics or disturbance.