Introduction of the Project: 

This project explores agricultural landscapes in the Colombian Andes and the southern Appalachians – two biodiverse hotspots and wildlife migratory nodes – to investigate how landscape planning and design can support both humans and more-than-humans in the face of climate impacts and biodiversity loss. While agriculture and conservation might seem at odds with each other, humans worldwide sustain their families while providing habitat and forage for other species. However, if human developments expand and reduce structural and functional landscape heterogeneity, other species lose critical habitat. As climate risks intensify and become increasingly unpredictable, areas with microhabitats and cooler elevations – such as the Appalachians and Colombian Andes – will serve as climate refugia for many species. The ways in which humans shape these landscapes will play a crucial role in fostering resilience for people, plants, and wildlife alike.  

Project Description:  

My research focuses particularly on neotropical migrating birds that breed in the southern Appalachia region and head to Colombia during their non-breeding season. Historically, these birds’ relationships to their non-breeding grounds have been understudied and are still not widely understood. However, the scientific community does acknowledge that these birds can be widely found in certain agricultural lands, such as Smithsonian Bird Friendly certified coffee and cocoa farms. To be certified, farms need to be certified organic, have an average of ten shade tree species per hectare, have 60% or more native trees, have an average canopy cover of at least 30% for cocoa and 40% for coffee. Additionally, it is recommended that farmers allow leaves to accumulate on the ground as they nourish soils and support structural canopy diversity. Different canopy zones allow birds to create habitat and find forage. In return, birds eat the coffee borer beetle, an insect that can wreak havoc on coffee crops. Birds don’t eat the coffee berry as it is astringent and fruit trees are already present for their gastronomic delight. 

In the fall of 2024, I traveled to Smithsonian Bird Friendly certified coffee farms in Colombia and was mesmerized by the sights, sounds, and scents of the landscape. While traveling, I learned that some farmers struggle to obtain certification as they live in cloudy areas where additional shade would obstruct much-needed sunlight for their crops. In response, the Smithsonian Bird Friendly program adapted its certification criteria, allowing farmers who cannot grow trees within their coffee parcels to instead retain nearby native forest patches within the landscape. Next fall, I plan to return to Colombia and visit farms in high cloud cover regions where farmers integrate a spectrum of bird and biodiversity friendly practices. 

This summer, I plan to speak with farmers across southern Appalachia who are collaborating with regional conservancies to integrate bird habitat. I’m especially looking forward to observing birds like the golden-winged warbler during their breeding season. Studying Appalachian and Colombian central Andes landscapes will help me better understand spatial parameters and conditions that can support both working lands and bird habitat. In turn, I aim to make drawings that clarify these complex relationships, making them more accessible to designers, policy makers, and farmers. These drawings will foreground the need to frame working landscapes not merely as high-production machines, but as intelligent and nuanced systems with the potential to sustain a rich diversity of life.