Janet is a new member of the Leach Lab, having spent several years as a research associate working on a variety of systems, predominately involving invasive species. In Montana and Colorado she has worked primarily as a field biologist in studies on the control of exotic weeds (notably biological control using arthropods), ecology of plant communities, and conducting surveys for invasive insects and diseases of agricultural crops. An ecologist by nature, she is fascinated by the interactions between plants, insects, and plant pathogens. She is currently assisting with research on the relationships between the Russian wheat aphid, aphid-associated bacteria, and their damaging interactions with wheat and barley