Acerca de

Dr. Angélica L. González

Group Leader

I am a broadly curious ecologist, but my research interests are all tied together by the understanding of the ways in which the availability, storage and transfer of energy and matter affect biodiversity, trophic interactions and ecosystem processes. I use experiments, observations, and data synthesis to answer questions that integrate biodiversity (taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional), species interactions and nutrient dynamics.

I completed my Ph.D. at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Zoology and the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia, Canada. I am now an Associate Professor at Rutgers University. Google Scholar

Udari Peiris

PhD. student, CCIB

I graduated from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka with a degree in Biological sciences specializing in Zoology. For my Masters at the University of Peradeniya, I studied biodiversity, ecotourism & environment management. I am interested in topics about biodiversity, community ecology and climate change with a special focus on arthropods.

My current research focuses on the effects of droughts on community structure, I will be using a combination of data synthesis approaches, and large temporal and spatial scale surveys.

Rupobrata Panja

MSc student, Biology

I graduated from KIIT University, India with a degree in Biotechnology. Before joining Rutgers, I worked as a Junior Research Fellow at IIT, Delhi and as a Senior Research Fellow at CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar. I am interested in environmental engineering, whose foundation lies in ecological processes and ecosystem functioning. My current research is focused on studying the consequences of nutrient enrichment on ecological communities and ecosystems using natural microcosms and ecological stoichiometry.

In my research, I am using an integration of latitudinal surveys of macroinvertebrates inhabiting tank bromeliads and elemental analyses.

Chris Licata

MSc. student, Biology

I received my Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Rutgers university. I am interested in a variety of ecological topics with a special interest in birds of prey. My research focuses on the effect of population change on the ecological niche of Peregrine falcons. In this research I am testing how population decline and recovery of falcons may have modified their realized niche.

In my research, I will use stable isotope analysis of feathers from museum collections, to measure niche changes across temporal and spatial scales.

Dr. Joe Braasch

Postdoc

I completed my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona studying the effects of invasion and extreme drought on the genetics and community composition of California grasslands. I am interested in work that advances our understanding of ecological systems through the lens of environmental change, with a focus on climate change, biological invasions, and habitat fragmentation.

I am currently working on the reconstruction of spatial-temporal changes in ancient arthropod communities that accompanied periods of historic climate change. I am also using data synthesis to study the effects of drought on plants and animals. Google Scholar

Marietta Rowand

MSc student, Biology

I completed my undergraduate studies at Rutgers Camden, where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. Currently, I am furthering my academics by pursuing a Master’s degree in Biology, with a particular focus on elemental niche variation within ecosystems. My research is primarily centered around understanding the impact of climate and nutrient availability on the elemental compositions of primary producers along a latitudinal gradient.

In my research, I am using a combination of large-spatial scale surveys of tank bromelids and elemental analyses.

Felipe Rezende

PhD. student, Brazil

I am currently a doctoral student in the postgraduate program in Ecology at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gustavo Q. Romero and co-advised by Prof. Dr. González. My research is focused on how global warming and land use influence (directly and indirectly) multiple dimensions of ecological stability in tropical freshwater ecosystems.

To test these effects, I an using artificial aquatic mesocosms as a model system.

Jenna Brodnyan

Honours student, Biology

I am a

I am using population genomics and...

Former Lab Members

Olivier Dézerald. Postdoc

My research aims to predict the structural and functional responses of food webs to various natural or human-driven environmental changes. I am a Research Scientist at INRAE, France.

Mark Nessel, PhD in Computational and Integrative Biology

I completed my PhD in 2021, which focused on testing the effects of nutrient enrichment on community structure of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at Oklahoma State University.

Matthew Wozniak, MSc in Computational and Integrative Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2023, which focused on the effects of forest management on linked aquatic ecosystems.

Tess Konnovitch, MSc in Computational and Integrative Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2022, which focused on the effects of warming and nutrient enrichment on aquatic ecosystems.

Ryan Curry, Master in Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2022, which focused on the effects of nutrient enrichment on aquatic invertebrates and cross-ecosystem linkages.

Concetta Magliocetti, Master In Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2022, which focused on the trophic niches of predators with a focus on odonates and spiders in aquaticic ecosystems.

Alexa Derago, Master in Computational and Integrative Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2021, which focused on network approaches to paleoecological data.

Katrina Dewitt. Master in Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2020, which focused on looking at intraspecific patterns in the stoichiometry of pitcher plants across a geographical gradient. I am currently a PhD student in the Gilbert Lab at Duke University.

Caleb Gilbert

Morgan Kelly. Master in Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2019, which focused on exploring the muldimensional trait niche of animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) using key functional traits: elemental content (C, N, and P) and body size.

Sandra Benavides, PhD student (UNICAMP, Brazil

Sandra was co-advised by Gustavo Romero and Angélica L. González. I completed my PhD. in 2021, which focused on the responses of aquatic communities and nutrient cycling to changes in environmental temperature and nutrient fertilization. For this study, I used field-warming experiments crossed with nutrient fertilization.

Juliana S. Leal. PhD Student. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Brazil

Juliana was co-advised by Vinicius Farjalla and Angélica L. González. I completed my PhD in 2019, which focused on how light availability influence regime shifts in energy pathways (i.e., leaf litter vs. algae) and ecosystem stability in aquatic communities.

Ryan Walker. Master in Biology

I obtained my Master in 2018, and my thesis project focused on exploring the effects of temperature changes on the nutritional needs and feeding behavior of spiders.

Tiffany Lutz. Master in Biology

I graduated from a Master in Biology Program in 2017. My research focused on the prey capturing and feeding efficiency of predators along environmental gradients.

Undergraduate students

Aiman Nadim Andrew Carpen Swetha Samuel
Liliana Berrios. Nafisa Hasna Anh Ly
Paula Khoiniha Rhea Sharma Lauren Calabria
Nazia Azam Julia Defeo (Honors student) Lillian Kappatos
Iayra Bates Madeline Oliver Aillen Kwok
Alexis Brickner Rachael VanCuren Richard Vereneck
Marissa Minardi Ryan Curry Angela Wollard
Claudia Vaca Rachel Carr