Michael Pashkevich
- Visiting Researcher
About
I grew up in Southeast Louisiana (USA), and completed my undergraduate degree (B.S. in Biological Sciences) at Loyola University New Orleans. I then did my PhD with Ed Turner and the Insect Ecology Group (funded by the Gates Cambridge Trust) and, after, continued in the group as the Marshall Sherfield Fellow and a Research Fellow at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. Since March 2024, I am a research scientist at Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), and a visitor in the Insect Ecology Group.
In addition to my research, I am passionate about developing the interests and knowledge of kids who are enthusiastic about science, particularly those who stem from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the natural sciences. I also enjoy teaching, and particularly field-based data collection methods. In my free time, I enjoy long-distance running, cycling, and camping.
Research
I am interested in how we can establish and manage tropical agriculture more sustainably. During my PhD, I studied how management strategies affect environmental conditions and arthropods in oil palm systems. Specifically, I studied the effects of replanting, and protecting and restoring areas of land that surround waterways (i.e. "riparian buffers") in oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia. My research is part of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Programme.
Over the last few years, I developed and lead the Sustainable Oil Palm in West Africa (SOPWA) Project, which is assessing differences in socioecological conditions across land use systems in Liberia. This collaborative research project is being conducted with industry, academic, government, and local partners in Liberia, as well as researchers at institutes in UK, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Belgium, and Indonesia.
Key publications
Pashkevich, M.D., Marshall, C.A.M., Freeman, B., Reiss-Woolever, V.J., Caliman, J-P., Drewer, J., Heath, B., Hendren, M.T., Saputra, A., Stone, J., Timperley, J.H., Draper, W., Gbarway, A., Geninyan, B., Goll, B., Guahn, M., Gweh, A.N., Hadfield, P., Jah, M.T., Jayswen, S., Jones, T., Kandie, S., Koffa, D., Korb, J., Koon, N., Manewah, B., Medrano, L.M., Paleirim, A.F., Pett, B., Rocha, R., Swope-Nyantee, E., Tue, J., Tuolee, J., Van Dessel, P., Vincent, A., Weah, R., Widodo, R., Yennego, A.J., Yonmah, J., Turner, E.C. (2024). The socioecological benefits and consequences of oil palm cultivation in its native range: The Sustainable Oil Palm in West Africa (SOPWA) Project. Science of the Total Environment. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171850
Pashkevich, M.D., Pett, B., Marshall, C.A.M., Caliman, J-P., Freeman, B., Guahn, M., Hadfield, P., Hendren, Jah, M.T., Jones, T., Saputra, A., Widodo, R., Turner, E.C. (2024). Conversion of rainforest to both traditional and industrial oil palm systems changes the biodiversity, web-building, and prey capture of understory spiders (Liberia, West Africa). Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109102
Pashkevich, M.D., d'Albertas, F., Aryawan, A.A.K., Buchori, D., Caliman, J-P., González Chaves, A.D., Hidayat, P., Kreft, H., Naim, M., Razafimahatratra, A., Turner, E.C., Zemp, D.C., Luke, S.H. (2022). Nine actions to successfully restore tropical agroecosystems. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.07.007
Pashkevich, M.D., Spear, D.M., Advento, A.D., Caliman, J-P., Foster, W.A., Luke, S.H., Naim, M., Ps, S., Snaddon, J.L., Turner, E.C. (2022). Spiders in canopy and ground microhabitats are robust to changes in understory vegetation management practices in mature oil palm plantations (Riau, Indonesia). Basic and Applied Ecology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.08.004
Pashkevich, M.D., Luke, S.H., Aryawan, A.A.K., Waters, H.S., Caliman, J-P., Dupérré, N., Naim, M., Potapov, A.M., Turner, E.C. (2022). Riparian buffers made of mature oil palms have inconsistent impacts on oil palm ecosystems. Ecological Applications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2552.
Pashkevich, M.D., Aryawan, A.A.K., Luke, S.H., Dupérré, N., Waters, H.S., Caliman, J-P., Naim, M., Turner, E.C. (2021). Assessing the impacts of oil palm replanting on arthropod biodiversity. Journal of Applied Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13749
