Sandy Smith

Professor University of Toronto

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and design

s.smith.a@utoronto.ca mail_outline
416-978-5482

Website

Interests and Expertise

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.

Biography

Dr. Sandy M Smith is a Professor in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Toronto, serving as Dean (2010-2012), and in numerous administrative roles within the university. She is cross-appointed to the School of the Environment, Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Dept. Physical & Environmental Sciences (UTSC) within UoT, as well as environmental departments at the Universities of Waterloo and Algoma. 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.

Current Urban-Forest Projects and Initiatives

Forest Health

Globalization ensures that invasive species will continue to arrive, establish, and cause significant disruption in our ecosystems, leading to major global change. Through a series of exotic–indigenous model systems in our forests, I test key invasion hypotheses with respect to predation, parasitism, specialization, and community diversity of natural enemies and associates. My lab’s work fuels not only basic knowledge underpinning processes of novel community interactions and ecosystem resilience, but also to achieve unique and complementary HQP capacity in invasion biology for Canada’s most significant renewable resource, our forests.

Population & Community Ecology

My research team conducts primary ecological studies proposed on insect-insect and insect-plant interactions here, work that’s elucidate key mechanisms driving changes in composition and diversity over time, as well as potential avenues for mitigating negative impacts in our forests. Species interactions underpin the invasion theories of enemy release and biotic resistance, which are a major thrust of my core research. Temporal patterns of community restructuring and quantitative shifts in species interactions that occurs between communities with and without invasion are of interest, especially in the restoration of southern Ontario’s mixed¬ wood deciduous forests. Results from this primary research adds to our understanding of community rewiring following forest invasion and at the applied level, helps to direct management strategies for non¬-native insect species.

Invasive Species

Recent introductions into Canada of several major forest insects (emerald ash borer (EAB), Asian long¬horned beetle (ALHB), Sirex woodwasps, pine shoot beetles, beech bark scale, hemlock woolly adelgid) allow us to compare native and exotic natural enemy complexes, and to explore mechanisms by which these communities affect host mortality and pest invasion. Research in my lab adds to our understanding of community rewiring following these invasions in our forests, and at the applied level, helps to direct management strategies for non¬-native insect species. The work is of interest to scientists, bio¬-control researchers, as well as policy¬makers who regulate invasive species and the public and forest industry concerned with the ecological and economic effects of such species.

Biological Control

My research aims to increase our ability to manage such species through improved understanding of community interactions that affect the natural enemies regulating their populations. I am best known for my contributions augmenting native natural enemies for biological control in forested systems, widely cited work still definitive in the field, however, my current research explores hypotheses around displacement of native species in order to better understand the invasion process in forest ecosystems. My specific interests are in community patterns of natural enemies following the introduction of exotics or through forest manipulations using all three approaches of bio-control, augmentation, conservation and classical introductions.

Teaching about Urban Forests

Graduate Courses

Forestry

• Current Issues in Forest Conservation (FOR3000F)
• Urban Forest Conservation (FOR1575F)
• Forestry Graduate Seminar (full year FOR1001H)

Landscape Architecture (Daniels)

• Landscape Ecology (LAN2045/2046H)
• Biodiversity of Forest Organisms (FOR3001F)
• Stresses in the Forest Environment (FOR3005S)
• Adv. Topics in Forestry 1/2 (Directed Studies FOR1900/1901H)
• Natural Resource Mgmt 1/2 (Directed Studies FOR1412/1413H)

Undergraduate Courses

Forestry

• Urban Forestry (FOR416F)
• Research Projects (Directed Studies FOR401/403H)
• Urban Forest Conservation Field Camp (FOR418/1585)​

Engineering (Applied Sci)

• Green Urban Infrastructure (FOR421F)
• Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB)
• Research Projects (Directed Studies EEB497H/498Y/499Y)