Who’s in the lab
Elizabeth M Wolkovich
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF FOREST AND CONSERVATION SCIENCES
I am interested in how communities assemble and dis-assemble with global change. I draw on theory from temporal community ecology with perspectives from population and ecosystem ecology, evolutionary biology, and climatology. Though I tend to address fundamental questions with hypotheses informed by theory and models, my research generally has strong applied angles. In particular much of my work to date has examined causes and consequences of plant invasion and the effect of climate change on the temporal assembly of plant communities.
Deirdre Loughnan
GRADUATE STUDENT
I am interested in how communities are shaped by variation in abiotic and biotic environments and using functional traits to identify the drivers of species coexistence and performance. In completing my Master’s degree at UBC, I used functional traits to study the biogeography of plant-insect herbivore interactions on Garry oak across its latitudinal range. Working in the interior forests of BC, my doctoral research will focus on the relationship between and relative importance of functional traits and plant phenology as drivers of plant performance under our changing climate.
Frederik Baumgarten
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
How do tree species adjust and adapt their phenology in response to changing climatic conditions? This is one of the many questions that drives my passion as an ecologist. I am fascinated by how plants have evolved mechanisms to survive and thrive, and I enjoy spending time in nature to observe and discover some of the solutions that nature has come up with. That’s why my hikes often take longer than expected without getting very far. To obtain causally linked and relevant data, I prioritize using a combination of plant responses from both natural and artificial experimental settings.
Justin Ngo
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
I’m an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia studying Biology, with a particular focus on botany. I love learning about all aspects of plant science from cellular physiology to higher level community interactions. My goal is to gain a deeper understanding of how different species assemble together through time and space to create the complex and beautiful communities we see today.
Britany Wu
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
I am an undergraduate student in the Forest Sciences program with a strong interest in the environmental impacts of global warming and anthropogenic factors. I strive to bridge the gap between different research disciplines and produce sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. Through my experience in the Temporal Ecology Lab, I hope to contribute to the lab’s collaborative efforts in understanding and mitigating global environmental changes, as well as gaining practical skills of analyzing complex issues.
Tolu Amuwo
NSERC USRA UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
I am an undergraduate student studying Environmental Science at the University of British Columbia. I am personally interested in studying global changes in terrestrial ecosystems and what that means for biodiversity and conservation as climate change progresses. Through this opportunity, I aim to develop my understanding about the scientific process and how collaboration within the research field is implemented
Hoai Huong Nguyen Phan
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
I am an undergraduate student studying Electrical Engineering (Biomedical Option) at the University of British Columbia. The opportunity to join the Temporal Ecology Lab provides me with a better understanding of the path from data science and decision-making in the real world. This experience also prepares me with transferable skills such as data analysis and communication that I can apply right away to my future pursuit in the biomedical field.
Daniel Buonaiuto
FORMER GRADUATE STUDENT – CURRENT COLLABORATOR
I am interested in how plant communities are responding to global change, and how these responses are affecting the composition and function of North American ecosystems. In the summer of 2016, I completed my master’s degree at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment where my thesis work examined the reproductive ecology of woodland sedge, Carex pensylvanica, as applied to native plant production and ecological restoration. My current research interest is in plant phenology, with a particular focus on expanding phenology research to include a greater diversity of plant taxa, and investigating how phenological characteristics covary with other life history traits.
Geoffrey Legault
FORMER POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW – CURRENT COLLABORATOR
Geoff joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2019. He is a theoretical ecologist interested in a variety of topics in population biology, community ecology, and physiology. During his Ph.D. (University of Colorado at Boulder) he studied the impacts of stochasticity on coexistence and spatio-temporal range dynamics. He then worked with Joel Kingsolver (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) developing mechanistic models of insect growth and development. You can read more about his research here: https://geoffreylegault.org/.
Mira Garner
FORMER GRADUATE STUDENT – CURRENT COLLABORATOR
I am a master’s student interested in understanding how climate change is shaping plant communities and developing strategies for conservation and restoration. My master’s research seeked to understand how climate change is affecting wine grape phenology and consequently altering the suitability of specific varieties to their current growth regions. Prior to graduate school, I worked at the Morton Arboretum on projects that studied: the population genetics of bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and big red sage (Salvia pentstemonoides), and the effect of phylogenetic diversity on prairie restorations.
Aliene Ettinger
FORMER POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW – CURRENT COLLABORATOR
As a plant ecologist and conservation biologist, I am fascinated with the vast diversity of plants on Earth and how they interact with their environment and other organisms. I am particularly interested in how climate change, urbanization, and other anthropogenic factors affect plant communities. Understanding anthropogenic impacts to plants is compelling to me for two main reasons: 1) humans exert a large and growing influence on Earth’s biota, and 2) we can simultaneously learn about their basic ecology and address applied problems in conservation biology and restoration.
Ignacio Morales-Castilla
FORMER RESEARCH ASSOCIATE – CURRENT COLLABORATOR
As a plant ecologist and conservation biologist, I am fascinated with the vast diversity of plants on Earth and how they interact with their environment and other organisms. I am particularly interested in how climate change, urbanization, and other anthropogenic factors affect plant communities. Understanding anthropogenic impacts to plants is compelling to me for two main reasons: 1) humans exert a large and growing influence on Earth’s biota, and 2) we can simultaneously learn about their basic ecology and address applied problems in conservation biology and restoration.
Sophia Collins
FORMER UG RESEARCHER – CURRENT COLLABORATOR
I am an undergraduate student studying Environmental Science at the University of British Columbia. I am interested in the implications phenological shifts have for the futures of ecosystems, and what we can do to address the ramifications of climate change as a whole. Through my involvement with the Temporal Ecology Lab, I am hoping to gain a better understanding of the scientific process and how computer software can b used to interpret data.
Alina Zeng
FORMER UG RESEARCHER – CURRENT COLLABORATOR
I am a senior undergraduate student majoring in Urban Forestry at the University of British Columbia. As a firm believer in the partnership between the sciences and the humanities, I appreciate innovative solutions to bridge research and practice. Upon joining the Temporal Ecology Lab, all the strolling around looking at plants that I do will serve a purpose 🙂 I am grateful for a chance to learn and work in our lab to enhance my understanding of terrestrial ecosystems under a changing climate. Meanwhile, I aspire to prepare myself for conducting independent research in my future endeavours around ecology and conservation sciences.
Dinara Mamatova
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
I am a senior undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia majoring in Computer Science. I am interested in data visualization and analysis of the environmental and plant research data. Due to my time at the lab, I’ve had many great opportunities to learn about Bayesian statistics and survival models, work with the lab’s phylogenetic mixed model and study the influence of ever-changing climate on plant ecosystems and their life events