McGrath, Darby
Senior Research Scientist, Environmental Horticulture at Vineland Research & Innovation Centre
Building sustainable landscapes
The establishment and survival of plants and trees to improve environmental performance, counter climate change pressures while increasing the competitiveness of the nursery landscape sector is the foundation of Vineland’s greening the landscape research program.
Working with partners across Canada, Vineland develops models and specifications to improve the performance of vegetation and green infrastructure design to ensure impact for the industry.
Innovation Challenge and Opportunity
Plants are the fundamental components of a living green infrastructure that delivers environmental, economic and social benefits. Cities recognize plants and trees as integral to climate change mitigation strategies and have set ambitious canopy cover targets.
Research and the application of that research to understand plant stress tolerance to extremes can inform plant selections and developing tools and production methods is improving plant establishment and survival. Providing clear, industry-ready recommendations backed by solid science and validated methodologies helps the sector capture a market opportunity to engage with cities, developers and others to deliver on climate change targets.
Vineland Research & Innovation - Developing Improved Traits for Horticultural Products
Improving the economic viability, sustainability and competitiveness of horticulture in Canada. Vineland Research and Innovation Centre is a uniquely Canadian results-oriented organization dedicated to horticulture science and innovation. We deliver innovative products, solutions and services through an integrated and collaborative cross-country network to advance Canada’s research and commercialization agenda. We are an independent, not-for-profit organization, funded in part by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.