Rowan Sage's research may help protect Canadian farms and forests from one of the world's most invasive plants as well as lead to an important new source of bio-fuel — fuel derived from renewable biological resources such as plants.

Kudzu is a climbing woody vine that can grow up to 60 feet in one season. Know as the vine that ate the South, the plant can grow as much a foot per day, climbing over trees, telephone poles and even entire houses. Undisturbed it can cover and smother anything that gets in its way, including forests and agricultural crops.

While native to Asia, kudzu has infested over 3 million hectares in the Southeastern United States. It may be that warming winter temperatures are responsible for its recent invasions into the Midwestern United States and if global warming trends continue, the plant should be able to survive as far north as Canada in as little as 10 to 15 years.

In China and Japan, kudzu — a member of the legume family — has been a common ingredient in foods and traditional medicines for centuries.

Sage believes that the plant can be put to good use and developed into commodities — such as fuel and as a food thickening agent. It could well pay for its own control.

Kudzu must undergo further study as it is uncertain whether the plant will be economically feasible to harvest.

Sage's work is just one example of how the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto is helping to answer the world's questions. In addition to his research work, Sage teaches undergraduate courses in plants and microorganisms, physiological ecology and global change ecology.

Research and teaching in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto covers all life forms — microbes, fungi, plants and animals — and focuses on understanding of the diversity of life and all aspects of organismal biology in the natural world.

Research faculty use a broad array of approaches in their studies, including molecular studies, laboratory experiments, computer and mathematical modeling, and field studies in many different areas of the world. Instruction provides opportunities for research projects conducted in the laboratory and the field.

Courses are offered in many areas including: molecular evolution, population and quantitative genetics, genomics, animal behaviour, population, community, and landscape ecology, evolutionary and ecological theory, biodiversity, conservation biology, and systematics.

Students exposed to these subjects come to realize that the ecological and evolutionary underpinnings of life present a host of scientific problems that are both intellectually challenging and critical to our future.