Dr. Burton is an ecologist with interests in the biology and management of weed species in a variety of agro-ecosystems. His investigations have included weed population and spatial dynamics, physiological ecology, soil seedbanks, propagule dispersal, and predictive modeling of weed distribution/pattern. He is interested in the dynamics and distribution of native and non-native "invasive" weed species in NC and the mid-Atlantic/ Southern region.

Dr. Burton studied political science, biology and chemistry at DePauw University before beginning his graduate training at The Ohio State University, where he earned a MSc in Crop/Seed Physiology and a MA in Public Policy. He then worked as a Congressional liaison in Washington, D.C., and later served as a Congressional Science Fellow (participating with the AAAS program and sponsored by the ASA/CSSA/SSSA and regional weed science societies) in the office of a United States Senator. Dr. Burton subsequently earned his PhD studying weed population ecology at the University of Nebraska.

RESEARCH

Currently, Dr. Burton has projects examining: weed population and community dynamics under various management systems (e.g., conventional, low-input, and organic row crop systems; turf and pasture systems; non-cropland/ forest systems; etc.), the application of Global Positioning System/ Geographic Information System (GPS/GIS) technology and existing weed biology data for problem solving in the management of pasture weeds and land application of animal waste, the seasonal variation in the emergence dynamics of weeds in cotton and wheat, the temporal changes in weed community composition, weed/crop interference, and the directed re-dispersal of weed seeds. He is also an active collaborator with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems and in the interdepartmental working group on allelopathy. Dr. Burton is also initiating studies employing remote sensing and GIS to aid in the management of non-native "invasive" weeds.

Map of soil organic carbon compared to bare soil image. High SOC levels decrease the bioavailability of some preemergence herbicides and may result in more weedy "escapes" in the red/dark areas.