Rafael Otfinowski

Title: Associate Professor
Phone: 204.786.9723
Office: 2RC029
Building: Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex
Email: r.otfinowski@uwinnipeg.ca

Research Interests:

My research focuses on understanding links between plants and soils to conserve, manage, and restore prairie ecosystems. To accomplish these goals, I design greenhouse, field, and natural experiments to explore how the structure, composition, and diversity of restored prairie communities effects their function. I am fascinated by the vast root systems that link plants and soil food webs and aim to use my research to help refine how we measure restoration success. I am also interested in understanding how invasive species effect ecosystems and how to use this information to prioritize the management of exotic invaders in natural areas. In my research, I collaborate with conservation agencies, including Parks Canada, and beef and forage producers in Manitoba, to contribute to the restoration and sustainable use of prairies ecosystems. My greatest and most rewarding challenge is to teach students about the evolution and function of grasslands and to learn from Indigenous and community members about the history, cultural uses, and conservation of grassland ecosystems in Canada and around the world.

 I always welcome inquiries from prospective undergraduate and graduate students.

Lab Website: www.prairielab.ca