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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. 

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Jeff Lupia

MSc student, Biology

I earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Marist University in Poughkeepsie, NY. My interests span paleobiology, evolutionary biology, and trait-based ecology. I study beetle body-size variation across space and time using specimens from Atacama Desert rodent paleomiddens spanning the past 50,000 years. My research develops regression models to reconstruct total body length from fragmentary remains.

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Andrea López

MSc. student, Biology

I’m a Biology MS student at Rutgers–Camden with a degree in Environmental Science, a minor in Toxicology, and a postbaccalaureate certificate in Environmental Health and Toxicology from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla. I’m interested in how human activities, particularly environmental contaminants and xenobiotics, affect ecosystems and how sustainable approaches can support ecological restoration.

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Caroline Maciejewski

MSc student, Biology

I earned a B.S. in Biology from DeSales University in 2026, gaining research experience in ecology, animal behavior, and ornithology. My projects explored Google Trends for tracking Spotted Lanternfly spread, avian predation using clay caterpillars, and biases in iNaturalist data. My field and laboratory experience includes bird banding, mist-netting, bird measurements, and rearing two praying mantis species from egg sacs to adulthood.

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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. 

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Rupobrata (Roop) Panja

PhD student, CCIB

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 got my MSc degree in Computational and Integrative Biology at RU, and now I am pursuing my PhD. I am interested in environmental engineering, whose foundation lies in ecological processes and ecosystem functioning. My current research is focused on studying the responses of arthropods to environmental change, from organismal to ecosystem-level responses.

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Vincent (Vini) Maldonado

MSc. student, Biology

I received my Bachelor’s degree of Science in Biology, Specializing in Zoology, from Delaware Valley University. In the past I have investigated microinvertebrate community composition and their utility as bioindicators. For my master’s thesis, I’m focusing on temperature and how it impacts energy flow in ecosystems and how it is assimilated by animals, particularly how ectothermic animals are impacted by changes in environmental temperature.

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Ari Santiago-Ramírez

MSc student, Biology

I am an undergraduate biology major at Rutgers University - Camden. I

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Former Lab Members

Dr. Joseph (Joe) Braasch. Postdoc

My research aims to determine structural and functional responses of soil arthropods to environmental variation.

 

Dr. 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.

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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.

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Marietta Rowand, MSc in  Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2025, which focused on elemental niches of autotrophs in response to environmental conditions

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Christopher Licata, MSc in  Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2025, which focused on trophic niches of aquatic macroinvertebrates along a latitudinal gradient.

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Rupobrata Panja, MSc in Computational and Integrative Biology

I completed my Master in Biology in 2025, which focused on stoichiometric niches of macroinvertebrates in response to temperature and resource N:P. I am now a PhD student in the González lab.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Alexa Derago, Master in Computational and Integrative Biology

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

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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. 

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Caleb Gilbert

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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Undergraduate students

  • Ariana Santiago-Ramirez

  • Tom Facchine                                Jenna Brodnyan (Honors student)         Noor Iman

  • 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                                              Katrina deWitt (Honors student)

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