My PhD research

McGill University, Montreal QC

Working title: "Predicting and protecting Canadian biodiversity into the future"

In my PhD, I want to:

Leverage recent leaps in data availability and modelling to predict and explain the current distribution of biodiversity in Canada
To test long-standing and novel hypotheses rooted in ecological theory
To inform the design of conservation strategy and actions to conserve biodiversity into the future

Why focus on Canada?

Canada comprises a land area similar to Europe
Canadian ecosystems are warming at multiple times the global average
Around 25% of Earth's remaining intact ecosystems are in Canada
Canada is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to international conservation goals and targets (so there is a lot of work to be done)

What am I doing?

Over the past decade, the rise of community (citizen) science has led to a windfall of biodiversity data which in turn has facilitated new and more powerful statistical models. As such, we have a more detailed view of biodiversity today than ever before. At the same time, as emissions continue to grow globally, initiatives focused on conserving Earth's biodiversity face new challenges.
In my work, I bring together recent advances in biodiversity data and science to test classic and novel ecological hypotheses and answer questions of critical importance to the conservation of Canadian biodiversity. My work combines multiple fields and tackles questions across spatial and temporal scales. Using publicly available data allows me to design research workflows and methodologies that are reproducible and can be applied by other researchers around th world.

To date, I have looked at how herbaria can supply the data we need to improve our species distribution models, how herbaria outperform other data sources in terms of their ability to represent plant niches, and how we can harness herbarium collections for monitoring plant genetic change.

What am I doing with natural history collections?

My passion for natural history collections (specifically herbaria) was born out of meeting some amazing curators from across Canada. Since then I have taken a keen interest in how modern biodiversity science can better leverage these unique and irreplaceable collections.

Google Sites

Report abuse