Ashley Larsen

Ashley Larsen is an Associate Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the ecology of managed systems, integrating causal inference and geospatial tools to balance food production with ecological health. She holds a PhD in Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology (UCSB), an MA in Economics (UCSB), and a BS in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (University of Michigan).

Key research areas include agricultural pest dynamics, pesticide impacts, biodiversity conservation under land-use changes, and landscape-scale ecosystem services. She leads a research group advising PhD students on topics like ecosystem services quantification, climate adaptation, and aquaculture-agriculture integration. Her work has advanced methodologies for monitoring wildlife (e.g., bat populations) and modeling pest control strategies in agroecosystems.

• Education:
  • PhD, Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, UC Santa Barbara
  • MA, Economics, UC Santa Barbara
  • BS, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan
• Labs/Teams: Leads the Agricultural Land-Use & Ecosystems Lab with postdoctoral researchers like Evan Patrick and PhD candidates Anna Boser, James Cunningham, Nakoa Farrant, and Brian Lee.

Her teaching includes courses on conservation planning (ESM 270) and food systems research (ESM 595AL). Research outputs emphasize policy-relevant solutions for sustainable land management, such as optimizing water use during droughts and reducing pesticide toxicity through spatial planning.