In our research my team and I try to learn from the functioning of natural vegetation to obtain ideas for agriculture. We unravel the ecological and natural selective drivers of plant interactions with other plants and with their wider environment and then utilize this knowledge to contribute to more biodiverse, sustainable, climate resilient agricultural systems. To this end, we use a combination of field observations, field and greenhouse experiments and modelling. This work is strongly rooted in ecological/evolutionary theory (e.g. evolutionary game theory, biomechanics and niche differentiation).