People

Diane Srivastava (she/her)

Professor, Distinguished University Scholar, FRSC

My research is motivated by my curiosity about the natural world, my determination to preserve it, and a passion for ideas. I grew up exploring the lakes and forests of Nova Scotia (BSc. Dalhousie, 1991), and my ecological fieldwork has since taken me around the world, with research in Central and South America, Africa, England, Europe and Arctic (MSc. Toronto, 1993) and temperate Canada. I started using natural microcosms to test ecological theory in my PhD (Imperial College, UK, 1997) and ever since invertebrate food webs in bromeliads and tree holes have played a starring role in my research. In order to test the generality and contingency of these results, I collaborate with other researchers in data syntheses and conduct globally replicated experiments – often with the Bromeliad Working Group, a network of over 50 researchers around the world that I started in 2011. I am Director of the Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution, our national synthesis centre which funds working groups and training programs. Our graduate training program, the Living Data Project, teaches data and collaboration skills and applies these to the rescue and synthesis of environmental data. Finally, I am involved in several initiatives to increase equity, diversity, and inclusiveness in science.

Nadia Páez (she/her)

PhD Candidate

Using the bromeliad invertebrate communities as the study system, Nadia takes a community phylogenetics approach to learn more about how biotic and abiotic factors affect community assembly at different spatial scales and taxonomic scopes. To achieve this goal, she has conducted field expeditions to the tropics, where she performed natural experiments and surveys of the communities. Her work also integrates various scientific methods, including molecular laboratory techniques, bioinformatics, phylogenetic reconstruction, species delimitation, and modelling. Nadia’s main research interests are evolution, conservation, phylogenetics, insect systematics, and ecology.

Natalie Westwood

PhD Candidate

As an ecologist, Natalie’s primary interest lies in understanding food web dynamics, especially in the context of aquatic decomposition. Her PhD work focuses on the impact of forest fragmentation on aquatic treehole invertebrate communities where she examined the relative impact of top-down and bottom-up controls on the food web. Her previous masters work focused on stream invertebrate detritivore communities in Québec. 

Other academic interests of Natalie focus on best practices in postsecondary teaching and learning, with a particular interest on graduate student teaching assistants and their experiences in the classroom. Natalie draws on diverse research techniques and philosophies across disciplines but rooted in her ecological background to determine the best approach to a particular research area.

Pablo Sandoval Acuña (he/him)

MSc Student – completed

Pablo did his biology undergrad in Ecuador at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador where he found his passion for nature, ecology, and insects. Now he is studying in his master’s degree the effects of cities on aquatic ecosystems and the invertebrate communities within them. His study focused on how urbanization (human constructed environments) and neighbourhood socioeconomic factors directly and indirectly affect the invertebrates on artificial tree holes and ground containers around British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. Pablo is interested in finding ways to coexist with and protect our natural environment. He defended his MSc in spring 2024.

Pierre Rogy (he/him)

Postdoc

An arthropod enthusiast, Pierre has always had a deep fascination for the complexity of life. After completing a B.Sc. in Environmental Biology at McGill University, Pierre did an M.Sc. within the Srivastava Lab (co-supervised by Edd Hammill), where he looked at how bromeliads could sustain predator populations within orange tree plantations. In his PhD, Pierre aimed to bridge two different fields of ecological theory: ecological stoichiometry and energy channels. To do so, he used a combination of computer models, observational studies and manipulative field experiments. Pierre is now a postdoc with the Living Data Project.

Sandra Emry (she/her)

Postdoc

Sandra is currently a data science and teaching postdoctoral fellow with The Living Data Project based at the University of British Columbia. She is also a marine ecologist broadly interested in the effects of environmental stressors on marine communities supported by foundation species (e.g. barnacles, mussels, algae). She started out in biological oceanography in Dr. Evgeny Pakhomov’s lab at UBC, before completing a PhD with Dr. Chris Harley. She enjoys being in the field in all types of weather, especially when she can bring her three young kids along. Outside of teaching and research, you can find Sandra running, playing tennis, sewing, or reading.  

Sarah Ravoth (she/her)

PhD candidate

Sarah completed her BSc at the University of Toronto, studying biases introduced into resurrection experiments and ecological and evolutionary drivers of insect pheromone diversity. Realizing that trudging around muddy trails in the tropics was the best use of her time, she developed an enthusiasm for the ecological complexity and diversity of insects. Sarah is interested in using bromeliad systems to understand the mechanisms underlying modern biodiversity declines and ecological shifts. In particular, she is interested in combining gradient analysis and time-series approaches to quantify ecological changes in response to drought intensification and land use modification and contrast performance of observational methods. In her free time, Sarah enjoys baking, hiking, and poking around muddy puddles looking for bugs.

Former Lab Members

  • Gracielle Higino (Postdoc, 2021-2023)
  • Keerthikrutha Seetharaman (MSc, 2018-2021)
  • Sarah Amundrud (PhD, 2014-2020)
  • Qian Wei (Postdoc, 2019-2020, co-supervised by Sylvia Fuller and Catherine Corrigall-Brown)
  • Melissa Guzman (PhD, 2014-2019, co-supervised by Vinicius Farjalla)
  • Rachel Germain (Postdoc, 2016-2018, co-supervised by Amy Angert)
  • Andrew MacDonald (Postdoc, 2016-2018, co-supervised by Regis Cereghino; PhD, 2010-2016)
  • Gustavo Miglorini (MSc, 2011-2017, co-supervised by Vinicius Farjalla)
  • Alathea Letaw (PhD, 2010-2016)
  • Angie Nicholas (MSc, 2010-2015)
  • Fabiola Ospina Bautista (PhD, 2010-2015, co-supervised by Emilio Antonio Realpe Rebolledo)
  • Gustavo Caue (PhD, 2011-2015, co-supervised by Gustavo Romero)
  • Ana Gonçalves (PhD, 2011-2015, co-supervised by Gustavo Romero)
  • Nicholas Marino (PhD, 2011-2015, co-supervised by Vinicius Farjalla)
  • Kurtis Trzcinski (Postdoc, 2013-2015, co-supervised by Regis Cereghino)
  • Paula Munhoz de Omena (PhD, 2009-2014, co-supervised by Gustavo Romero)
  • Aliny Pires (PhD, 2011-2014, co-supervised by Vinicius Farjalla)
  • Fernanda Azevedo (PhD, 2011-2014, co-supervised by Vinicius Farjalla)
  • Sarah Amundrud (MSc, 2012-2014)
  • Angelica Gonzalez (Postdoc, 2011-2014)
  • Youhua Chen (MSc, 2009-2013)
  • Robin LeCraw (PhD, 2009-2013)
  • Virginia Noble (MSc, 2010-2013)
  • Melissa Cuke (MSc, 2006-2012)
  • Andrea Stephens (PhD, 2007-2012, co-supervised by Judy Myers)
  • Gennifer Meldrum (MSc, 2010-2012)
  • Edd Hammill (Postdoc, 2010-2012)
  • Jana Petermann (Postdoc, 2009-2011)
  • Silvina Fenoglio (Postdoc, 2010-2011, co-supervised by Graciela Valladares)
  • Pavel Kratina (Postdoc, 2010-2011; Postdoc, 2009-2010, co-supervised by Jon Shurin)
  • Martin Videla (Postdoc, 2010-2011)
  • Jiichiro Yoshimoto (Postdoc, April-August 2010)
  • Clea Moray (MSc, 2005-2009, co-supervised by Arne Mooers)
  • Jackie Ngai (PhD, 2004-2008, co-supervised by Jon Shurin)
  • Benjamin Gilbert (PhD, 2004-2008, co-supervised by Roy Turkington)
  • Brian Starzomski (PhD, 2002-2006)
  • Jessica Beaubier (MSc, 2003-2006)
  • Katsky Venter (MSc, 2003-2006; BSc. Honours student)
  • Xiang Zhu (MSc, 2003-2006, co-supervised by Kathy Martin)
  • Jeff LeMieux (Postdoc, 2004-2004, co-supervised by Sue Grayston)
  • Daryl Suen (BSc. Honours student)
  • Andrew Lamash (BSc. Honours student)
  • Beatrice Rost-Komiya (BSc. Honours student)
  • Noam Harris (BSc. Honours student)