Kim Cuddington

Dr. Kim Cuddington is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies who carries out research in theoretical and population ecology. Her mathematical models have been used to predict how and when species become invasive as well as describe the role species play as ecosystem engineers.

Cuddington is engaged in developing and testing models of ecosystems, communities and populations that include the impacts of climate change on temperature. She is particularly interested in ecosystem engineers, like beavers, which can modify abiotic conditions to ameliorate such impacts, and in invasive species that may benefit from changing conditions. Both long term temperature changes and short term, transient, events like heatwaves can lead to economic and ecological impacts. Predictive models allow us to anticipate, and potentially, manage these impacts. In addition, she works in the philosophy of ecology to understand how these mathematical model predictions are interpreted by both scientists and the public. Her research on the population dynamics of Asian carp, a potentially devastating invasive fish poised to enter the Great Lakes, and Emerald Ash Borer, a destructive forest pest has grabbed international media attention.

Cuddington’s research addresses the growing ecological and economic threats posed by climate change and invasive species. By studying how temperature variability and extremes shape short‑term population dynamics, her work improves predictions of emerging invasions before they become costly crises. These insights have informed early‑warning systems, urban forestry planning and invasive‑species management, while supporting practical, nature‑based solutions that protect ecosystems, economies and communities in a rapidly changing world.

• Transient dynamics, r-tipping and environmental stochasticity

• Climate change impacts on understudied temperature phenomena: variance, autocorrelation, night-warming, anomalous events

• Organism modification of the abiotic environment (“Ecosystem engineering”)

• Theoretical and population ecology

• Environmental biology

• Mathematical modeling in biology

• Threats to aquatic ecosystems and their interaction

• Conservation

• Ecology and environmental biology

• 2001, MA Philosophy, University of Guelph, Canada

• 1999, PhD Zoology, University of Guelph, Canada

• 1993, MSc Biology, University of Calgary, Canada

• 1991, BSc Biology, University of Guelph, Canada

• 2027, Ecological Society of America, Meeting Program Chair, Toronto

• 2009 – Present, Associate Editor of Theoretical Ecology

• Ecological Society of America (ESA) (Member)

• Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (CSEE/SCEE)

• Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB)

• BIOL 457 - Analysis of Communities
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
• BIOL 458 - Quantitative Ecology
  • Taught in 2023, 2025

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• For the full list of Kim Cuddington's publications, please see Google Scholar.

• Brook, M. E., & Cuddington, K. (2025). Using a temperature-dependent population model to predict the population growth rates of grass carp across North America. Ecological Modelling, 500, 110945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110945

• Byers, J. E., Cuddington, K., Jones, C. G., Talley, T. S., Hastings, A., Lambrinos, J. G., ... & Wilson, W. G. (2006). Using ecosystem engineers to restore ecological systems. Trends in ecology & evolution, 21(9), 493-500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2006.06.002

• Cuddington, K., Sobek-Swant, S., Drake, J., Lee, W., & Brook, M. (2022). Risks of giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) range increase in North America. Biological Invasions, 24(1), 299-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02645-x

• Cuddington, K., Kuntze, M., Andrade-Pereira, D., Gasmen, Y., Wu, J., Ferns, A., & Geng, X. (2026). Thermal performance of Wolffia globosa under climate change: heatwaves impair population growth. AoB Plants, 18(2), plaf068. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plaf068

• Hastings, A., Abbott, K. C., Cuddington, K., Francis, T. B., Lai, Y. C., Morozov, A., ... & Zeeman, M. L. (2021). Effects of stochasticity on the length and behaviour of ecological transients. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 18(180). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0257

• September 7, 2015 "Landmarking" study looks at where cool carp go to get hot dates - 90.5 WKAR Michigan