Chloe MacLaren

My current project "EcoDiv: An ecological framework to advance crop diversification in southern Africa" investigates whether different diversification options (different layouts and species combinations for intercrops and rotations) are more or less successful in different biophysical or socioeconomic contexts, and why.

I hold 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.

In my work, I have explored the role of plant interactions in agroecosystems from the field scale (e.g. measuring traits that influence intercrop productivity) to the global scale (e.g. synthesising evidence from long-term experiments around the world). I am interested in the plant ecology that underpins these outcomes, but also in the 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?

At SLU, I am part of the Cropping Systems group led by Ingrid Öborn in the Department of Crop Production Ecology. I also collaborate with the Weed Ecology group, and with colleagues in the Department of Ecology.

I am currently based in Harare, Zimbabwe, 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. I completed my PhD in ecological weed management at Coventry University's Centre for Agroecology, Water & Resilience in 2019, in partnership with the Agronomy Department at Stellenbosch University. I hold a Masters degree in International Nature Conservation, jointly awarded by Lincoln University in New Zealand and the University of Göttingen in Germany.

Co-superviser of PhD students: Pacsu Simwaka (SLU), Gert Conradie (Stellenbosch University)

Co-superviser of MSc students: Kimberly Blaakman (SLU), Azhar Shaikh (Stellenbosch University), Hugo Winkfield (Stellenbosch University)

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., Aliyu, K.T., Waswa, W., Storkey, J., Claessens, L., Vanlauwe, B. and Mead, A., 2022. Can the right composition and diversity of farmed species improve food security among smallholder farmers?. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6, p.744700

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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