TERG Members
Faculty:
Dr. Yolanda Wiersma
Phone: 709.864.7499 Email: ywiersma mun ca Twitter: @YolandaWiersma Lab: Landscape Ecology and Spatial Analysis Lab |
Dr. Eric Vander Wal
Phone: 709.864.7946 Email: eric.vanderwal mun ca Lab: Wildlife Evolutionary Ecology Lab |
Current Students:
Travis Heckford (heckford.travis[at]gmail.com)
MSc Candidate Originally from Vancouver Island, BC. Prior to starting my MSc, I was employed by the British Columbia Conservation Society and worked closely with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations on various species at risk projects. As a MSc candidate in the Landscape Ecology and Spatial Analysis lab, I am passionate about conservation biology, habitat modelling, landscape ecology and using GIS to examine spatial patterns and ecological processes. The primary focus of my research project is to explore forest stoichiometry at multiple spatial extents (sample plot, forest patch, and forest stand) and to construct forest stoichiometric distribution models (FSDMs) to identify important trophic interaction areas with regards to snowshoe hare and canada lynx. Find me on Research Gate or on my Website |
Matteo Rizzuto (mrizzuto[at]mun.ca)
PhD Candidate I am driven by a deep-rooted passion for Nature and its mechanisms, particularly consumer-resources interactions, which eventually led me to join the Ecosystem Ecology Lab at MUN as PhD candidate. My research is focused on the effects of forest harvesting on the flow of nutrients in the ecosystem, using a lynx-snowshoe hare-plant study system in the boreal forests of central Newfoundland. Variation in quality and quantity of nutrients caused by human activities can travel up food webs, ultimately causing changes at both the individual and landscape level. Within the framework of Ecological Stoichiometry, I aim at assessing how species respond to these variations in their habitat and how this, in turn, shapes food-web dynamics at the ecosystem level. Find me on Research Gate |
Past Research Assistants
Abigail Robyn, Hann
Research Assistant (2016) As an undergrad I was fortunate to work with seabirds around the Avalon Peninsula, and studied biology for a month in Harlow, England. Since graduating with my BSc (Biology, Conservation and Ecology) in 2015 I have spent time volunteering on farms in central America, serving fancy coffee and vegetarian fare in Bonavista, and most recently, catching snowshoe hares with TERG in Terra Nova National Park. My most recent endeavour is studying at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, as I try to merge my passions for fine art and science while promoting conservation. |