Students improving life: Using research to support wild bee populations in agricultural landscapes
Bee biodiversity and grassland management may not come to mind when you consider the regenerative agriculture movement, but Kyra Lightburn is changing that.
Kyra, a PhD candidate in the Department of Plant Agriculture, recently received the 2021 Yorkshire Valley Farms Canadian Eco-Scholar Award. The Canadian Eco-Scholar Award was launched in 2004 by the Guelph Organic Conference. The award is open to full-time students who are passionate about agriculture and are working to progress the advancement of the regenerative agriculture movement.
“Regenerative and organic agriculture refer to farming and grazing practices and systems, that amongst many ecosystem health priorities and benefits, promote carbon sequestration in the soil and aim to support healthy systems of biodiversity,” says Kyra.
Her entry on YouTube speaks to her current research, her involvement as a long-time volunteer with the Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming (GCUOF), her passion for experiential learning and her recent experience teaching the Introduction to Organic Agriculture (OAGR*2070) course at the University of Guelph.
“My research project addresses the effects of grassland management practices as well as grazing disturbance on wild bee community structure and habitat resources in pasturelands in North America,” Kyra shares.
As Kyra describes in the video, her research project is the first in North America to assess wild bee biodiversity using a large, paired pasture study design.
“I’m excited to share what my research is about with the community, especially for people who maintain grassland and rotational grassland pastures,” says Kyra.
Kyra grew up on Vancouver Island and actively spent time growing food in the family garden. Kyra is an avid traveler and spent over a decade of seasonal tree planting in Western Canada. Through these experiences, Kyra discovered her fascination for ecosystem management along with sustainable food production and the regenerative agriculture movement.
Her passion for bees and biodiversity stems from her time as a mature undergraduate student in the organic agriculture program at U of G and her ecological agriculture coursework at both the University of British Columbia and McGill University.
Kyra explains how habitat-rich native grasslands have declined in Canada and is exploring how pastureland ecosystems as semi-natural habitat support bee biodiversity.
“I’m interested in how we can best manage pastures to support bee biodiversity and bring attention to the importance of pastureland resources and semi-natural habitat in agricultural landscapes,”
Kyra hopes her research will inform management practices and maximize support for wild bee populations in pastureland.
“Grasslands play a really important role in regenerative agriculture,” says Kyra. “It is imperative to build and support farming systems that can provide healthy food for healthy communities while improving soil health, acting as a carbon sink and maintaining ecological communities and their balance.”
An important aspect to her research and interdisciplinary approach is collaborating with the farmers and producers to enhance agricultural systems. Kyra anticipates that ecological, organic and biodiverse agriculture will continue to be a big part of her future career.