Research Area: Ecological pest management, Sustainable Agriculture
E-mail: randa.jabbour@umit.maine.edu
Phone: 207-581-2926
Office: 203 Greenhouse
Personal Website: http://randaj.weebly.com/
Bio: Dr. Jabbour received her B.S. in Biology (2003) from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She received her PhD in Ecology (2009) from the Pennsylvania State University studying soil management effects on beneficial organisms during the transition to organic production. Prior to coming to Maine, she worked as a post-doctoral scientist at Washington State University studying biological control of the Colorado potato beetle (2009 – 2010). She is currently working with Eric Gallandt here at the University of Maine. She is a broadly-trained agroecologist who enjoys thinking about agricultural problems at the systems scale. She is particularly appreciative of learning from the extensive experience of farmers, and is passionate about supporting local food systems. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, cooking, riding her bicycle, watching films, and exploring Maine.
Teaching: I have taught PSE105 Principles of Sustainable Agriculture. As a teacher, I have three main goals that aim to foster student growth. First, I engage students by creating a learner-centered atmosphere so they can actively relate science to their lives. Second, I aim for students to be able to use quantitative reasoning and apply the process of science. Third, I strive to make students aware of resources and strategies that will allow them to achieve their goals when they leave my class.
Current Research: I am part of a multi-institution group developing “mental models” of organic farmers throughout the United States. These mental models will represent the knowledge, perceptions, and decision-making strategies farmers employ with regards to organic weed management. By comparing farmer mental models to an “expert” model developed through interviews with scientists and extension professionals, we hope to optimize outreach efforts to target particular misconceptions and problem areas for farmers. I am focusing on linking farmer mental models with weed seedbank data collected from each participating farm. Linking mental model data with biological field data is a novel and exciting way to bring together field biologists and social scientists, and could have broad implications for sustainable agriculture research.
Recent Publications
Lynch, C.A., Crowder, D.W., Jabbour, R., Snyder, W.E. In press. Spud web: Species interactions and biodiversity in potatoes. Book chapter in Insect Pests of World’s Potatoes: Biology and Management, edited by P. Giordanengo and A. Alyokhin.
Northfield. T.D, Crowder, D.W., Jabbour, R., Snyder, W.E. In press. Natural enemy functional identity, trait-mediated interactions, and biological control. Book chapter in Ecology and Evolution of Trait-Mediated Indirect Interactions, edited by Ohgushi, Schmitz, and Holt.
Jabbour, R., Crowder, D.W., Aultman, E.A., Snyder, W.E. Entomopathogen biodiversity increases host mortality. Biological Control 59: 277-283.
Lewis, D.B., Kaye, J.P., Jabbour, R., Barbercheck, M.E. 2011. Labile soil carbon accumulates under reduced tillage during agroecosystem transition into organic management. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 26: 342-353.
Jabbour, R., Barbercheck, M.E. 2011. Soil microarthropod response to the application of entomopathogenic nematode-killed insects in maize and refuge habitats. Pedobiologia 54: 243-251.
Jabbour, R., Barbercheck, M.E. 2009. Soil management effects on entomopathogenic fungi during the transition to organic agriculture in a feed grain rotation. Biological Control 51: 435 – 443.
Smith, R.G., Jabbour, R., Hulting, A.G., Barbercheck, M.E., Mortensen, D.A. 2009. Effects of initial seed-bank density on weed seedling emergence during the transition to an organic feed-grain crop rotation. Weed Science 57: 533 – 540.
Geib, S.M., Jimenez-Gasco, M.M., Carlson, J.E., Tien, M., Jabbour, R., Hoover, K. 2009. Microbial community profiling to investigate transmission of bacteria between life stages of the wood-boring beetle Anoplophora glabripennis. Microbial Ecology 58: 199 – 211.
Jabbour, R., Barbercheck, M.E. 2008. Soil and habitat complexity effects on the dispersal of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae. Biological Control 47: 235 – 243.
McClain, C.R., Rex, M.A., Jabbour, R. 2005. Deconstructing bathymetric patterns of body size in deep-sea gastropods. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 297:181 – 1871.
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