spatial ecology lab

Bethany Bradley

Bethany is a Professor of Biogeography and Spatial Ecology in the Department of Environmental Conservation at UMass. She is interested in how the geographical locations of species across landscapes and regions can inform ecological understanding of species distributions, invasion risk assessments, and conservation planning. Her research has a strong focus on terrestrial plant invasions, with a goal of understanding how invasion risk varies spatially in the context of anthropogenic disturbance and climate change.

email: bbradley <at> eco.umass.edu

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Audrey Barker-Plotkin

Audrey is a PhD student in the Department of Environmental Conservation. She holds a BA from Carleton College and a MS in Forestry from the University of Maine. As an ecologist and licensed forester, Audrey is interested in how disturbances – including timber harvest, hurricanes, and invasive insects – affect forest composition, structure, and productivity.

email: aabarker <at> fas.harvard.edu

Website

Evelyn (Eve) Beaury

Eve is a PhD candidate in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology program. She is interested in invasive species, plant community ecology, and the impacts of global change. Her current projects are focused on understanding variation in biotic resistance across ecosystems of the U.S. and the role of the plant nursery industry in distributing invasive species. Eve is also passionate about science communication and outreach.

email: ebeaury <at> umass.edu

Website

Annette Evans

Annette is a postdoctoral fellow at UMass and NECASC. She is working on modeling the abundance distributions of invasive plants to assess future risk with climate change. Annette is particularly interested the eco-evolutionary cascades caused by the introduction or removal of invasive species from native communities.

email: annetteevans <at> umass.edu

Matt Fertakos

Matt Fertakos is a PhD student in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology department. Previously, Matt has researched the effects of climate change on phenology in plants as an undergrad at The College of New Jersey, and the biogeography of North American Chestnut species as an intern at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Matt is excited to pursue research that uses biogeographic modelling to solve issues surrounding plant invasion, conservation, and the effects of climate change.

email: mfertakos <at> umass.edu

Bianca Lopez

Bianca Lopez is a postdoc at UMass and NECASC working at the intersection of invasion ecology and climate change to inform land management. Bianca uses spatial analyses and information on species' traits to understand how people's actions (directly and indirectly) affect natural communities, especially the diversity and composition of plants in urban areas. She has also collaborated with social scientists to study people's interactions with nature and is interested in art as a way to communicate science and inspire conservation behavior.

email: belopez <at> umass.edu

Website

Ayodele O'Uhuru

Ayodele is a Masters Student in the Department of Environmental Conservation. She recently graduated from Franklin Pierce University with a B.S in Environmental Science. There her research focus was on integrating climate change into the curriculum, and finding funding to do so. Her current research focuses on identify risk from nonnative 'sleeper' species that could become invasive with climate change. She is interested in how invasive species affect urban ecosystems.

email: aouhuru <at> umass.edu

Will Pfadenhauer

Will is a PhD student in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program. He recently graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science from Lafayette College, where his undergraduate research combined field monitoring, laboratory experiments, and spatial modeling to address the conservation implications of light pollution. He is looking forward to continuing research that addresses conservation concerns using spatial technologies during his time at UMass.

email: wpfadenhauer <at> umass.edu