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
LEE WALKER
PhD (2025-present) Concordia University
BSc (2022-2025) McGill University
LAYAN AL SAHAF
Layan wants to understand why the morphology of dragonflies and damselflies varies geographically, with a focus on intra-specific variation observed among populations distributed across the range of species.
MSc (2024-present) Concordia University BSc (2021-2024) Concordia University
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 colonies of desert ants
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
Pierre-Marc Brousseau
Postdoc (2023-2025) Pierre-Marc’s research aimed to develop biodiversity metrics based on arthropod communities that could be used to monitor climate change impacts
Paul Savary Horizon Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2024) Paul’s research aimed to understand the environmental, ecological and spatial processes driving biodiversity patterns. More specifically, he investigated the relative influence of these processes on meta-community structure using graph-theoretical methods
Lilian Sales Banting 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 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 (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
Justine Crochetière BSc Honours (2023-2024) Concordia University Justine worked on collaboration with Chris Gough on a large-scale experimental project (FoRTE) wherein she aimed to quantify how soil arthropod communities respond to large-scale forest disturbance such as droughts and insect outbreaks.
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.
