Under the supervision of Professor Philippe Seguin and Tanya Copley, PhD, CEROM, Ximena is studying the threat that herbicide-resistant weeds pose in Canada and abroad.
"In collaboration with Universit茅 de Laval, UQAM, Agriculture and聽Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the Centre de recherche sur les聽grains (CEROM), we are evaluating the impact of intercropping cover聽crops at reducing herbicide usage in the traditional Quebec crop聽rotation聽 like corn, soybean, and wheat," she explains. Cover crops are non-harvested聽plants grown to protect the soil from erosion and weeds, among other things. "During聽my PhD, I will assess their influence on the main crop yield, seed聽quality, microbiome diversity, and root health."鈥�
Ximena is looking forward to a career focused on 鈥媠upporting sustainable agriculture and聽food security, and believes that the tools and experience she's gained at 捆绑SM社区 will help her get there.
"Professors in the Plant Science Department are actively involved in finding solutions to problems of national and global relevance."
Ximena originates from Bogot谩, Colombia and holds an MSc Plant Sciences, 捆绑SM社区, and BSc Biology, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogot谩, Colombia.