Chloe Maclaren

In my work, I explore the role of plant interactions in agroecosystem functioning: how do crops interact with one another, with weeds, and with farm management and the surrounding environment? I am interested in the ecology of plant interactions, but also in their potential implications for farmers and society. For example, what are the consequences for food security, health, and livelihoods if agronomic inputs are replaced with more ecological farm management practices?

I am currently involved in three projects:

1) I hold an SLU Career Grant to investigate how soil characteristics influence plant competition for nitrogen in crop fields.

2) I am part of EcoGap, led by Martin van Ittersum at Wageningen University: https://www.agroecologypartnership.eu/en/projects/ecogap

3) I am investigating insights from long-term experiments for sustainable crop production with Giulia Vico, Riccardo Bommarco and Kit Lauck.

I recently completed an MSCA Global Postdoctoral Fellowship (funded by the European Union), hosted by SLU and by the International Centre for Wheat and Maize Improvement (CIMMYT) in Zimbabwe. My project focused on whether different crop diversification options (different layouts and species combinations for intercrops and rotations) are more or less successful in different contexts, and why.

PhD in Agroecology - Coventry University, UK (2018)

MSc in International Nature Conservation - Lincoln University, New Zealand, & University of Göttingen, Germany (2013)

BSc in Biological Sciences and Environmental Science - University of Auckland, New Zealand (2010)

At SLU, I am part of the Cropping Systems group led by Valentin Picasso in the Department of Crop Production Ecology.

I was recently based in Harare, Zimbabwe, for 2 years, where I was hosted by CIMMYT in their Sustainable Agrifood Systems programme.

I also collaborate frequently with Stellenbosch University's Department of Agronomy in South Africa and co-supervise several students there.

Before coming to SLU, I worked at Rothamsted Research in the UK, on a project exploring crop diversification in Kenya and Nigeria alongside partners from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.

MacLaren, C., Waswa, W., Aliyu, K.T., Claessens, L., Mead, A., Schöb, C., Vanlauwe, B. and Storkey, J., 2023. Predicting intercrop competition, facilitation, and productivity from simple functional traits. Field Crops Research, 297, p.108926

MacLaren, C., Mead, A., van Balen, D., Claessens, L., Etana, A., de Haan, J., Haagsma, W., Jäck, O., Keller, T., Labuschagne, J. and Myrbeck, Å., 2022. Long-term evidence for ecological intensification as a pathway to sustainable agriculture. Nature Sustainability, 5(9), pp.770-779

MacLaren, C., Storkey, J., Menegat, A., Metcalfe, H. and Dehnen-Schmutz, K., 2020. An ecological future for weed science to sustain crop production and the environment. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 40, pp.1-29

SLU News: Crop Production in Balance with Nature

Farming and fertilisers: how ecological practices can make a difference 

Ecological Principles for Weed Management

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