My research, which focuses on forest health, and its biotic and abiotic influencing factors, helps provide scientific foundation for management policies and the ecological response to changes in forest health conditions. Influencing factors I have studied include forest entomology, pathology, invasive species ecology, climate, nutrients, and anthropogenic impacts. Forest Health is a key driver of management in many forested systems and is becoming the main focus for managers more often as new diseases, pests and plants are introduced in our global economy. Innovative research and monitoring of forest conditions are vitally important to the sustainability and diversity of our forests, but I also believe that well educated students and a general public will do more for this than what research I could ever carry out. Besides, being outside and seeing people's amazed reactions to earthworms evading a mustard solution or aquatic insects coming up in a net is just great fun!