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

CV     Publications     Google Scholar

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

Will Coville

Will is a research technician in the spatial ecology lab. He holds a BSc in Environmental Science from UMass. He is working on impact assessments of range-shifting invasive plants. He is also interested in the impacts of climate change on ecological networks.

email: wcoville <at> umass.edu

Emily Fusco

Emily is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Environmental Conservation. She earned her BA in Environmental Studies from the UNC, Wilmington, and her PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at UMass. Emily’s research combines fire ecology, invasion ecology, big data, and spatial analyses to understand how people impact wildfire regimes in the United States. She is particularly interested communicating science between researchers, policy makers, and land managers to help reach conservation goals.

email: efusco <at> cns.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