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.](/environment/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/uploads/images/deer-in-a-pasture-wcms3-2-column-layout-800-x-450.png?itok=4mmGfPgU)
Advancing five Sustainable Development Goals
![sdg 11](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/images/sdg-11-sustainable-communities_0.png)
![sdg 13](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/images/sdg-13-climate-action.png)
![sdg 14](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/images/sdg-14-life-water.png)
![sdg 15](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/images/sdg-15-life-land.png)
![SDG 17](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/images/e_sdg_goals_icons-individual-rgb-17.png)
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
-
Environmental conservation and natural resource use on private lands
- Social-psychology of pro-environmental behavior
- Climate change and land use effects on temperate and boreal forests
- Urban ecology and ecosystem services
- Conservation and land use policy
- Can also supervise graduate students in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability and in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development
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](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/resize/maria-strack-200x200.png)
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
![](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/resize/andrew-trant_0-200x200.jpg)
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
![](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/images/maren-oelbermann_0.jpg)
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](/environment/sites/default/files/uploads/resize/chantel-markle-200x200.png)
Chantel Markle
Department of Geography and Environmental Management (GEM)
- Wildlife ecology and management
- Herpetology
- Effects of climate-mediated disturbances on habitat use and function
- Ecohydrology of wildlife habitat
- Habitat restoration and management
- Can also supervise graduate students in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability and Geography and Environmental Management