Meet the Team
Claire Kremen, PhD
Contact Details
claire.kremen [@] ubc.ca
Room 207, Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre
Current lab Members
Staff
Tyler Kelly
2020-Present
I am a pollinator expert with almost 10 years of experience working with insects and plants. The majority of my work has focused on plant-pollinator interactions in the pacific and intermountain regions of North America. I am frequently invited to give pollinator ecology, biodiversity, and identification workshops and am one of a handful of professionals in western Canada who is capable of identifying bees to the species level. In addition to pollinator work, I am proficient with the R programming language and data management. For example, I created a database work flow system to facilitate digitizing, classifying, and managing large numbers of insect specimens using R, LaTeX, and Microsoft Office.
Post-doctoral researchers
Contact Details
Dr. Sabine Cudney-Valenzuela
2023-Present
I am a landscape ecologist and for over ten years, I have worked at, lived in, and studied tropical human-modified landscapes. I have broad research interests that go from canopy ecology to socio-ecosystems, and my research is mainly guided by the intention to preserve biodiversity and ecological processes in our changing planet.
I completed my PhD at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where I studied the effects of different types of land-use change on forest fragment vegetation and its interlinked effects on the arboreal mammal community. I conducted the largest arboreal camera trapping study published in Mexico to date and identified landscape management actions to promote the resilience of arboreal mammals living in forest fragments. Wanting to bridge the gap between research and implementation, I later began working at the Santa Lucia Conservancy, a California land trust actively involved in nature restoration using science-based management. There, I developed a strategic recovery plan for the endangered Smith’s Blue Butterfly and guided habitat restoration actions across the Santa Lucia Preserve based on my findings.
As a WoRCS lab post-doctoral fellow, I will investigate the effects of diversified and simplified agricultural practices on seed-dispersing mammals and the repercussions this has on driving the patterns of seed dispersal and forest recovery in the Eje Cafetero region in Colombia.
PhD students
Contact Details
ilkegel [at] student.ubc.ca
Ilke Geladi
2020-Present
Ilke Geladi is a PhD student in the WoRCS Lab under the supervision of Claire Kremen. Her research explores questions related to the conservation of landbirds in the agricultural zone of Santa Cruz island in the Galapagos archipelago.
During her undergraduate studies at McGill University in Montreal, QC, Ilke studied the evolutionary adaptation (or lack thereof) of two native fish prey species in response to a major impoundment event and to the introduction of an invasive predator in Gatun Lake in Panama. This fascinating study captivated her to join the research world.
Ilke continued her studies to obtain a Master’s degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems through the Erasmus Mundus Masters Programme (TROPIMUNDO). During her Master’s work, Ilke examined what agricultural landscape features were promoting landbird diversity and abundance in Santa Cruz, Galapagos. She also conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers to gain a basic understanding of landbird-farmer interactions.
Through her doctoral studies, she aims to tie together aspects from ecological, evolutionary and social disciplines to help inform a conservation plan. More specifically, she will study the ecosystem services and disservices landbirds provide to farmers as well as the effect of agricultural landscapes on evolutionary processes. She will work closely with local stakeholders with the aim of identifying optimal sites within the agricultural zone for forest restoration to aid landbird conservation. Her work at IRES is supported by an NSERC-CGSD grant.
In her free time, you can find her hiking through a forest, exploring new parts of the world or sharing a beer with friends.
Contact Details
melanson [at] zoology.ubc.ca
Jenna Melanson
2020-Present
I am a PhD student in the Department of Zoology at UBC, supervised by Professor Claire Kremen. My research addresses the behavioral responses (foraging, dispersal, colony productivity/turnover) of bumble bees in response to landscape-scale agricultural diversification, as well as risks/rewards associated with these behaviors (diet composition, pesticide exposure). Broadly speaking, I hope to learn which factors allow pollinators to persist (or not) in agricultural landscapes and how these parameters are related to land management. Prior to beginning my PhD at UBC, I received a B.S. in biological engineering at MIT, and enjoy using my molecular biology background to address applied ecological questions. Outside of the lab I’m an avid distance runner (3000m steeple / 5000m) and enjoy knitting and reading science fiction!
Contact Details
skinner [at] ubc.ca
Aaron Skinner
2022-Present
I am an applied ornithologist conducting conservation-oriented research in Nearctic-Neotropical systems. My interests are broad, and include the wildlife response to human-altered landscapes and climate change, movement ecology, ecomorphology, working landscapes that benefit both humans and wildlife, understanding the synergistic effects of climate change and habitat conversion on bird distributions, and better integrating science into policy decisions. I just finished a stint in Colombia working as a Fulbright student researcher, where I was engaged in community outreach and laying the groundwork for my doctoral research on agroforestry’s ability to facilitate bird movement and survival in fragmented landscapes conducting a preliminary field season for my PhD research. I graduated from the Tonra lab of avian ecology in 2021 with my MS from the Ohio State University, where my research aimed at elucidating poorly known phases of the annual cycle of the Eastern Whip-poor-will. I just started my PhD work at the University of British Columbia under the direction of Dr. Claire Kremen. In my free time, I enjoy playing basketball (and most sports), cooking, traveling, and hiking!
Masters students
Tatiana Chamorro
2022-Present
I am a biologist from Colombia, highly interested in biodiversity conservation and ecology. During my bachelor’s at the National University of Colombia, I was part of the Herpetology research group. Some of the projects we did as a team were about the Knowledge and relationship of a rural community with the herpetofauna of its region and How the microhabitat and activity pattern of an Andean lizard specie changed across an altitudinal gradient. Currently, my research interest is related to how to do agriculture in a sustainable way that benefits nature and people. In my free time, I enjoy traveling, playing sports (specially volleyball and ping-pong), and reading.
Robin Glover
2023-Present
Samantha Gorle
2023-Present
I am an MSc student in the IRES at UBC, co-supervised by Dr. Claire Kremen & Dr. Joséphine Gantois. I completed my BSc in Honours Biology at McGill University, and there I developed a passion for biodiversity conservation & landscape ecology and worked on a research project about expanding the protected area network across the Montreal region to improve connectivity for a variety of vertebrate species. Under the supervision of Dr. Kremen and Dr. Gantois, I will be working a habitat restoration project based in southern Ontario, looking at how restoring small, marginal patches of agriculture land to natural habitat impact regional capacity to support pollinator and small mammal populations. In my free time, I enjoy reading, trying new recipes, and painting.
Contact Details
duncan.macnaughton [at] ubc.ca
Duncan MacNaughton
2021-Present
Duncan is an MSc student in the Faculty of Zoology. His research focuses on the impacts of agricultural expansion on pollinator communities in the South Okanagan Valley’s at-risk antelope brush ecosystems. Growing up in the Okanagan, Duncan developed a passion for protecting these ecosystems, which are being lost at an alarming rate. Duncan completed his BSc in Natural Resources Conservation through the UBC Faculty of Forestry in 2021.
Duncan’s hobbies include kayaking, hiking, photography, and music.
Undergraduate students
Contact Details
vaniartha.vaniartha [at] oceans.ubc.ca
Vaniartha Vaniartha
2022-2023
Vania recently completed her BSc in Natural Resources Conservations at the UBC Faculty of Forestry. She joined the WoRCS Lab as a Work Learn student in September 2022, working on investigating seasonal, multi-species connectivity for large mammals in Kenya, especially in the context of community conservancies. This project is done in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy’s Africa Program and will support multi-stakeholder conservation initiatives in Kenya.
Contact Details
alinazengziyun [at] yahoo.com
Alina Ziyun Zeng
2022-2023
Learner, creator, and explorer at heart, I discover and express myself in various forms of art. Growing up close to nature in which I sought shelter and comfort, I built an inseparable bond with different landscapes and am committed to bridging the disconnect between our society and nature. I recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in urban forestry at the University of British Columbia, and am eager to learn about different fields. Currently I collaborate with WORCS lab investigating connectivity in Kenya using Maxent and CircuitScape modelling.
