Ecology

From sustainable agriculture to critical ecosystems, our researchers are analyzing and evaluating ways to conserve and improve biodiversity in the world. 

Get to know their areas of expertise.

Deer in a grassy pasture.

Advancing five Sustainable Development Goals

sdg 11
sdg 13
sdg 14
sdg 15
SDG 17

Our researchers

Christine Barbeau

Department of Geography and Environmental Management (GEM)

  • Arctic ecosystem resilience

  • Social and ecological responses to climate change
  • Sustainable agriculture in arctic Indigenous communities
  • Agroforestry and intercropping in the Canadian Arctic and Subarctic
  • Can also supervise graduate students in Geography and Environmental Management

Simon Courtenay

School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

  • Uses that fish and other animals make of aquatic environments

  • How human activities change that ecology.
  • Design of appropriate monitoring programs to detect impacts of particular human activities and cumulative effects

Michael Drescher

School of Planning

Brad Fedy

School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

  • Wildlife ecology and management

  • Habitat selection, landscape genetics, demography, and social behavior.
  • Ornithology

Brendon Larson

School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

  • Understanding the social dimensions of biodiversity conservation (e.g., how people conceptualize nature)

  • Evaluating conservation options in the current era of dramatic global change (the so-called Anthropocene), including topics such as invasive species, assisted migration, and novel ecosystems
  • Can also supervise graduate students in the School of Planning

Stephen Murphy

School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

  • Restoration & conservation ecology

  • Ecosystem resilience
  • Translational ecology
  • Pollination ecology
  • Invasive species ecology
  • Can also supervise graduate students in the School of Planning
Maria Strack

Maria Strack

Department of Geography and Environmental Management (GEM)

  • Understanding interactions between ecology, hydrology, biogeochemistry and soil properties in wetland ecosystems

  • Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions related to land-use impacts on wetlands
  • Determining impact of climate change on peatland ecosystems
  • Evaluating the peatland function following restoration and reclamation

Andrew Trant

School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

  • Global change ecology

  • Ecological and cultural legacies related to Indigenous resource-use
  • Biogeography and forest ecology
  • Historical ecology

Maren Oelbermann

School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

  • Sustainable agriculture: agroforestry and intercropping

  • Carbon sequestration and Climate change resilience
  • Soil health and biochar
  • Riparian land-use systems
  • Can also supervise graduate students in Geography and Environmental Management
Chantel Markle

Chantel Markle

Department of Geography and Environmental Management (GEM)