Daniel Noble is an M.Sc. student in the department of Integrative Biology, supervised by Dr. Andrew MacDougall. He completed his B.Sc. in 2017 at the University of Guelph. Through his Co-op experiences during his undergraduate degree, Daniel fostered an interest in how fundamental ecosystem processes are altered by agricultural systems, which is a focus of Andrew MacDougall’s lab.
For his M.Sc., he is now investigating nutrient and hydrological cycling in agricultural areas. Specifically, he is looking at the amount of nutrients that are transported from cropped fields into surface water, causing eutrophication of the Great Lakes. Additionally, he is addressing how marginal lands on farms, or areas with limited arability, can be converted to diverse perennial plant communities to yield higher ecosystem service benefits. These benefits can include hydrological regulation and the retention of excess nutrients that would otherwise pollute our aquatic systems.
This research will provide a fundamental understanding of how we can build more resiliency in agricultural systems while also increasing productivity to feed a growing population. This project gives Daniel the opportunity to bring his experience and skills to the agri-food sector in order to solve current and future problems surrounding sustainable agriculture.
