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

Dan Buonaiuto

Dan is a postdoctoral fellow at UMass. From individual physiological responses to patterns of macro-ecology, he is broadly interested in the impacts of global change on plant communities. His current projects focus on understanding how invader abundance influences patterns of biodiversity across multiple spatio-temporal scales.

email: dbuonaiuto <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

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