Melanie Karlsson

About my research

In my PhD I’m investigating the constraints of plant organic farming. My focus is on two parts: both what is driving the yield differences within organic farming and compared to conventional farming. And secondly what is the limiting factors for expansion of plant organic farming in Sweden, especially in low uptake areas. I’m especially interested in how the composition of the landscape around farms affects their yield and success in organic farming, and how this is affected by biodiversity and ecosystem services. The project will combine farmer questionnaires, with field work, to investigate the biological and ecological factors behind yield differences and conversion to organic farming. The project is shared with colleagues at the Swedish Agricultural University and Agrifood, with the common goal to better understand the drivers of yield and uptake, and therefore how plant organic farming can be improved and expanded.

About me

My background is in biology with a special interest in entomology. I have previous experience in agro-ecological studies about pollinators with a MSc in Conservation Biology at Lund University. I’m very fond of insects and have worked with inventories of various insects, as well as a time-to-time job at the Entomology collections of the Biological Museum, Lund University.