LEVERAGING ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES TO PROVIDE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, SUCH AS BIOLOGICAL CONTROL, IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE FOR SUSTAINABLY TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURE AROUND THE WORLD. MY RESEARCH EMPLOYS A COMMUNITY ECOLOGY APPROACH TO UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT PESTS AND PATHOGENS ARE REGULATED AT SOME TIMES AND PLACES, BUT NOT OTHERS. USING A MODEL SYSTEM THAT IS BOTH ECOLOGICALLY INTERESTING AND OF IMMENSE PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE, I FOCUS ON THE COFFEE LEAF RUST (CLR) AND ITS COMMUNITY OF NATURAL ENEMIES. MY PROPOSED PROJECT EXPLORES HOW COFFEE-CITRUS INTERCROPPING INCREASES BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF CLR BY PROMOTING FUNGAL MYCOPARASITES IN PUERTO RICAN AGROECOSYSTEMS. IF WE CAN GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO LEVERAGE DIVERSIFIED AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS TO SYNERGISTICALLY PROVIDE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL, PERHAPS MITIGATING STEPS CAN BE TAKEN TO PREVENT OR MODERATE FUTURE OUTBREAKS OF CLR, AS IN, FOR EXAMPLE, HAWAII WHERE THE CLR HAS RECENTLY BEEN DISCOVERED.