Rebecca Rooney

Dr. Rebecca Rooney is a Professor in the Department of Biology who carries out research in wetland ecology and is a world expert on biomonitoring and wetland assessment.

Rooney examines how human-caused and natural ecological disturbances influence wetland communities, including birds, invertebrates and plants. She tackles fundamental questions around how communities assemble and what defines them, including the relative importance of biological interactions, environmental conditions and landscape factors. She is keenly interested in the role of rare species and novelty in ecological processes. Her research supports the implementation of wetland policy, invasive species management and the protection of species at risk. Her results improve the design of restored and reclaimed wetlands, provide tools for evaluating their integrity and identifies the most successful techniques for invasive species control.

Rooney’s research lies at the intersection of the biodiversity and climate change crises, using ecological restoration, particularly of wetlands, as a tool to address both. She studies how making wetlands resilient to climate change can conserve biodiversity while protecting society from floods, declining water quality and invasive species. Much of her work supports managers responsible for stewarding these ecosystems by enabling effective, evidence‑based decision‑making, while also informing policy guidelines that safeguard wetlands and their ecosystem services for the benefit of all of society. With a strong focus on Great Lakes coastal wetlands, her research advances monitoring, restoration and risk assessment across Canada’s diverse wetland systems, spans all five classes of Canadian wetlands under major national stressors and provides scientific leadership for Great Lakes policy.

• Wetland ecology

• Invasive species management

• Biomonitoring and ecosystem assessment

• Policy responsive research

• Knowledge coproduction

• Community ecology

• Restoration ecology

• Urban ecology

• 2011, PhD Ecology, University of Alberta, Canada

• 2006, MSc Entomology, University of Manitoba, Canada

• 2003, BSc Environmental Science, Carleton University, Canada

• 2025, Best Paper Award for her article in the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management, awarded by the Weed Science Society of America

• 2024, Invasive Species Leadership Award, awarded by the Invasive Species Centre

• 2022, Excellence in Science Research Award, awarded by the Faculty of Science at the University of Waterloo

• 2019, 2022, Outstanding Performance Award, awarded by the University of Waterloo

• 2018 – 2023, Ontario Early Researcher Award, awarded by the Government of Ontario

• 2015, University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Award

• 2010, Departmental Teaching Commendation, University of Alberta

• 2010, Lakshmi Memorial Teaching Award, University of Alberta

• 2010, First Place Student Presentation, Society of Wetland Scientists

• 2009, Bill Samuel Service Award, University of Alberta

• 2009, Alberta Ingenuity Graduate Scholarship

• 2009, Honorary Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship

• 2007, Graduate Scholarship, University of Alberta

• 2007, PhD Scholarship, University of Alberta

• 2007, Postgraduate Scholarship- Doctoral, NSERC

• 2003, Senate Medal for Outstanding Performance, Carleton University

• 2003, Graduate Scholarship- CGSM, NSERC

• 2025 – Present, Great Lakes Coastal Assembly, Appointed Science Advisor to the Steering Team for the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Conservation Framework

• 2025 – Present, Alberta Wetland Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting Plan Team, Appointed Science Advisor

• 2024 – Present, Ontario Invasive Hydrilla Response Team, Appointed Science Advisor

• 2022 – Present, Co-founder of Save Ontario Wetlands

• 2022 – Present, Science Advisory Board, International Joint Commission, Appointed Canadian Co-Chair of the Research Coordination Committee

• Co-chair International Joint Commission Microplastics Monitoring and Risk Assessment Working Group

• Ontario Phragmites Working Group Member

• Department of Biology Curriculum Committee

• Department of Biology Graduate Student Committee

• President’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, Academics Working Group

• International Association for Great Lakes Research

• Ecological Society of America

• Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution

• Water Institute

• BIOL 150 - Organismal and Evolutionary Ecology
  • Taught in 2023
• BIOL 251 - Fundamentals of Ecology
  • Taught in 2024, 2025
• BIOL 485 - Conservation Biology
  • Taught in 2021, 2023, 2024, 2026

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

• For the full list of Rebecca Rooney's publications, please see Google Scholar.

• Lew-Kowal, G.K., Robinson, D.T., Gilbert, J.M., Rooney, R.C. (2025). Suppression efficacy of remotely piloted aircraft systems–based herbicide application on invasive Phragmites australis in wetlands. Invasive Plant Science and Management. 18:e18. https://doi.org/10.1017/inp.2025.8

• Izma, G., Raby, M., Prosser, R. and Rooney, R., (2024). Urban-use pesticides in stormwater ponds and their accumulation in biofilms. Science of the Total Environment, 918, p.170534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170534

• Ficken, C.D., Connor, S.J., Rooney, R. et al. (2022). Drivers, pressures, and state responses to inform long-term oil sands wetland monitoring program objectives. Wetlands Ecol Manage 30, 47–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-021-09828-2

• Rooney, R.C., Royall, O., Robinson, D.T., Cobbaert, D., Trites-Russell, M. and Wilson, M., (2022). Evaluating the development and use of a rapid wetland assessment tool (ABWRET-A) in policy implementation in Alberta, Canada. Environmental Science & Policy, 136, pp.575-587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.07.020

• Robichaud, C.D. and Rooney, R.C., (2021). Effective suppression of established invasive Phragmites australis leads to secondary invasion in a coastal marsh. Invasive Plant Science and Management, 14(1), pp.9-19. https://doi.org/10.1017/inp.2021.2