People

 

 

Jean-Philippe Lessard
Linkedin,  ResearchGate, ORCID, X (twitter)

Editor-in-Chief (2022-present) Ecological Monographs
Professor (2023-present)  Concordia University
PhD (2006-2010)  University of Tennessee

JP’s current research focuses on elucidating the determinants of range limits, the assembly of multi-trophic communities, and the role of insects in forest carbon cycling, all of which can improve predictions of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in a changing world 

 

 

 

 

Pierre-Marc Brousseau

Postdoc (2023-present) Concordia University
PhD (2011-2017) Université du Québec à Montréal

Pierre-Marc’s research aims to develop biodiversity metrics based on arthropod communities that could be used to monitor climate change impacts

 

 

 

 

Mohammad Reza (Shahab) Mohseni
(co-supervised by Ehab Abouheif)

PhD (2023-Present) Concordia University
MSc (2015-2018) Islamic Azad University

Shahab investigates the historical biogeography and macroevolution of developmental pathways leading to morphological variation within ant colonies

 

 

 

Justine Crochetière

BSc (2021-present) Concordia University

Justine is working in collaboration with Chris Gough on a large-scale experimental project (FoRTE) wherein she aims to quantify how soil arthropod communities respond to large-scale forest disturbance such as droughts and insect outbreaks.

 

 

 

 

Paul Savary
Horizon Postdoc Fellow

Postdoc (2022-present)  Concordia University
PhD (2017-2021)  Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté

Paul’s research aims to understand the environmental, ecological and spatial processes driving biodiversity patterns. More specifically, he investigates the relative influence of these processes on meta-community structure using graph-theoretical methods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Érik Plante
(co-supervised by Ehab Abouheif)

PhD (2022-present)  Concordia University
MSc (2020-2022)  Concordia University

Érik investigates the factors driving variation in the caste composition of ant colonies along climatic gradients. Previously, he studied geographic variation in colour patterns on the wings of Catocala moths (Erebidae)

 

 

 

Gabriel Muñoz

PhD (2018-present)  Concordia University
MSc (2015-2017)  Universiteit van Amsterdam

Gabriel is interested in the processes underlying the assembly of interaction networks and how their structure varies geographically

 

 

 

 

Tonia de Bellis
Lab Associate

Professor (2005 – present)  Dawson College
PhD (2002 – 2007)  Concordia University

Tonia is working on multiple projects exploring mutualistic interactions between plants and root-associated fungi in the context of biological invasions

 

 

 

Lab Alumni

POSTDOC

Lilian Sales (Banting Postdoctoral Fellow)

Postdoctoral Fellow (2020 – 2023) Lilian’s research aimed to develop quantitative models to improve forecasts of biodiversity response to global changes and to generate conservation-relevant information

Shaun Turney (FRQNT Postdoc Fellow)
Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2020) Shaun used trait-based approaches to infer the processes underlying the structure of ecological communities and networks along environmental gradients

PhD

Javier Ibarra-Isassi (NSERC CREATE Scholarship; co-supervised by Tanya Handa)

PhD (2016-2023)  Concordia University Javier was interested in how the evolutionary, ecological and anthropogenic drivers of variation in the functional structure of ant communities

 

MSC

Dana Martin
MSc (2021-2023)  Dana was interested in how plant-herbivore interactions influence pollinator communities

Serena Sinno (co-supervised by Carly Ziter)
MSc (2019-2021) – Serena investigated whether the diversity of floral trais in plant communities could shape the diversity of visiting bee species in urban ecosystems.

Isaac Eckert (co-supervised by Martin Nuñez)
MSc (2018-2020) – Isaac’s project aimed to understand the effects of the Lodgepole pine invasion on microbial communities of alpine ecosystems in Patagonia, Argentina

Frédérique La Richelière (co-supervised by Ehab Abouheif)
MSc (2016-2018) – Frédérique investigated the evolutionary and ecological trends that lead to caste development in ant species on a global scale

François Brassard
MSc (2016-2018) – François worked on caste-specific determinants of morphological variation along abiotic gradients in North American ants

Sarah Ouimette (NSERC PGS M, co-supervised by Piero Calosi)
Msc (2016-2018) – Sarah worked on life-stage related differences in thermal tolerance of odonates and how they relate to their geographic distributions

Sergio Vega (MITACS Scholarship)
MSc (2016-2018) – Sergio’s research aimed to determine how land use affects native bee communities in Quebec blueberry fields

Katherine Hébert (NSERC PGS M, co-supervised by Virginie Millien)
MSc (2015 – 2017); BSc Honours (2012 – 2015) – Katherine investigated the mechanisms underlying the assembly of insular mammal communities across the globe. She is now doing a PhD with Dominique Gravel at University of Sherbrooke.

Julie Arrowsmith
MSc (2014 – 2016) – Julie worked on the maintenance of regional diversity in Odonates. Specifically, she is interested in how habitat associations might mediate the relative importance of stochastic and deterministic processes in driving among-community variation in species composition.

 

BSc

Jake Harvey
BSc Honours (2020-2021) – Jake worked in collaboration between our lab and that of Eric Pedersen to elucidate the drivers of ecological and evolutionary specialization in host-parasites

Maggie Blondeau  (CUSR Award)
BSc Honours (2019-2021) – Maggie studied the relationship between odonate immune response and rates of parasitism, as well as how those dynamics play out along broad-scale environmental gradients

Tania Groleau (Mitacs Award)
BSc Honours (2019-2020) – Tania worked in collaboration between our lab and that of Eric Pedersen to uncover phenotypic adaptations of dragonflies and damselflies permitting life in cold climates

Holly Thaler-Soppit (Berti Farag award for best thesis in Arts and Sciences)
BSc Honours (2019-2020)  – Holly studied the broad-scale latitudinal variation of functional traits between ant castes across the Americas

Kelly MacDonald (CUSR Award)
BSc Honours (2018-2019) – Kelly studied the effects of fish predation on the community structure and size distribution of dragonfly larvae. She is now an MSc student with Shawn Leroux at Memorial University

Daniella LoScerbo (NSERC USRA)
BSc Honours (2016-2017) – Daniella studied the effects of mite parasitism on odonate community structure

Sean-Anthony Di Paolo 
BSc (2012 – 2016) – Sean asked whether spatial variation in the community structure of odonate adults can be predicted by that of larvae

Victoria Pompa
BSc Honours (2012 – 2016) – Victoria was interested in comparing the functional diversity of endomycorrhizal fungi on native and invasive Maple trees.