Hi! I’m Kara, and I am an Assistant Research Technician in the Gillespie Lab. I grew up ~15 minutes away from Guelph. I did my undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology here at the University of Guelph. Adam was my professor for two classes. Soil Biodiversity and Functions, where I learned all about organic matter and Project in Environmental Sciences, where I was part of a group that developed a plan for a new irrigation system to be used at the Guelph Center for Urban Organic Farming, which is the on-campus farm. That class led me to take a Summer Student position at the far,m where I helped to grow and sell veggies to U of G Hospitality and students. After the summer was up, I started doing fieldwork in a lab at the university, and eventually, I ended up in the Gillespie Lab. I’ve gotten to work with some great people and do some really fun work. Post-pounding 20, 1-meter-depth soil cores in the cold isn’t the most fun task on paper, but with some Christmas tunes going and some fun coworkers, anything can be a blast! I have come to enjoy all the parts of what make this such a dynamic job. Sweating outside collecting soil samples, creating Excel sheets to organize everything and listening to podcasts while I follow through with processing the samples from a bunch of different projects. I’ve had the chance to try my hand at all sorts of new skills since I joined the lab. One of my favourite parts is how many different people we collaborate with. Other U of G professors, different universities across Canada, government organizations and more. I’ve loved the work we do so much that I’ve decided to complete a master’s in the Gillespie Lab starting in the summer of 2025.
The research I will be doing is with Field Boundary Habits. Dr. Gillespie has partnered with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to investigate how trees interact on farms. Greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration and soil health are a couple of the things we will be investigating. This research is being done as part of the Living Labs Ontario projects, which helps us do this research on real farms. There is a lack of scientific understanding about how to effectively manage these habitats. Our goal is to provide evidence-based information that can inform management decisions and promote sustainable farming practices that balance carbon sequestration with other ecosystem services
Outside of work, I spend most of my time outdoors. Mountain biking and canoe trips are my favourites in the warmer months. In the winter, tasks like cutting and splitting firewood with my partner or setting up maple tree sap collection are some of the things I look forward to most. I love a schedule, so I have a weekly standing dinner with my Mom. Thursday gym nights with my best friend are also something I love. I have a collection of plants and always find it hard to walk out of a garden center without another. Local handmade pottery mugs are also always hard for me to pass up. Flowers are my favourite thing to grow in my garden because I love being able to surprise people with a bouquet for them to enjoy.
