People

Current members

PI: Rachel Germain cv
Assistant Professor

rgermain[at]zoology.ubc.ca

PhD University of Toronto
BSc University of Guelph

Megan Szojka (MSc Student)
szojka[at]zoology.ubc.ca

Megan joined the lab in 2018. Her thesis explores the relationship between biodiversity and dispersal through a combination of greenhouse and field experiments. Her work aims to improve our understanding of how competition, abiotic sorting, and dispersal interact across scales in real landscapes.

Jawad Sakarchi (MSc student)
sakarchi[at]zoology.ubc.ca

Jawad started his MSc in May 2019. His interests are in exploring impacts of evolutionary history on spatial coexistence and how coexistence mechanisms can be routes to evolutionary rescue and speciation.

Mia Tayler Waters, M.A. (PhD Student)
waters[at]zoology.ubc.ca

Mia joined the lab as a PhD student in September 2019. She is interested in understanding how coevolution and coexistence of species across trophic levels and dynamic landscapes influence the structure of biodiversity.

Chelsea Little, PhD (Killam Postdoctoral Fellow)
little[at]zoology.ubc.ca - personal website

Chelsea's research focuses on meta-ecosystem processes: the movement of organisms, matter, and information between ecosystems, and how this affects local ecosystem dynamics. Her background is as a community ecologist who has worked in a broad variety of systems (oak savanna, alpine tundra, headwater streams) to explore the consequences of community assembly and composition on ecosystem processes and functioning.

Kelley Slimon (directed studies student)

Kelley joined the lab in 2018 as a work learn student before staying on for a directed studies project. She tested the evolution of dispersal, dormancy, and their covariance along environmental gradients. In doing so, she clarified the ecological value of each trait, and found that dispersal and dormancy are not simply alternate forms of bet hedging.

Kately Nikiforuk & Jenny Mackay (summer researchers)

Kately and Jenny are working together to test how animals link plant populations in space, dispersing seed and redistributing energy and nutrients. They are collecting animal poops, germinating the seeds they contain, and then incinerating 🔥 them.

Research technicians: Genevieve Ke (2019), Dennis Chiu (2018)

Alumni

Mackenzie Urquhart-Cronish (Research Assistant) cv
mackenzie.urq[at]gmail.com

Mackenzie has been working in the lab since the summer of 2017, and is currently a collaborator on a project disentangling local adaptation to the biotic vs. abiotic environment. She plans to extend this work to understand species' range limits in a PhD in the Angert lab.

Join the lab!

I joined the Department of Zoology and the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia as an Assistant Professor in January 2019.

Grad students: I seek curious, motivated students with some prior research experience (e.g., work learn experience, undergraduate research). Though my primary study system is Californian annual plants, I am happy to support students interested in exploring local field sites, non-plant systems, or data synthesis projects.

Postdocs: Please email me to discuss research interests and potential projects. UBC has a number of fellowship opportunities, including Killam (due Oct.), Banting (due Sept.), and the Biodiversity Postdoc (due Jan.). I am happy to provide feedback on application materials.

Undergrads: There are many opportunities to gain research experience through the work learn program, independent research courses, or NSERC-funded summer research opportunities.

Diversity 🌈 & inclusion: Science is ultimately a creative endeavor, and benefits from a diversity of brains and backgrounds. Members of under-represented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

To apply to the lab, please email your CV, a summary of your research interests, and a brief statement of your career goals to rgermain[at]zoology.ubc.ca. ***For the time being, we can only support students with an external funding.

McLaughlin Natural Reserve, California

Greenhouse facilities near UBC Farm

Vancouver, BC