Lauren C. Ponisio
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology UCR Currently Postdoctoral Researcher at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science My mission is to make biodiversity a core societal value to promote biodiversity conservation. It has been my goal for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the California’s Central Valley, I experienced first-hand an ecosystem which has been converted to intensively managed agriculture. Our society is supported by continued provision of services by nature — services that are crucial, yet taken for granted. To me, sustainability is stable coexistence of humans and other species, which can only be achieved through acknowledgment of our connection to nature. We can only attain sustainability through the preservation of biodiversity. This is why I have dedicated my life to understanding biodiversity — researching how it can be sustained and restored, elucidating its role in maintaining human prosperity. It is also why I regularly work with land managers, such as farmers, to promote the translation of my research into impactful change at the community level. I also prioritize communicating the importance of biodiversity through outreach: by giving talks for many audiences, by leading workshops, and by writing popular science pieces. |
Contact:
lponisio_at_gmail.com Office: 201 Wellman Hall Address: ESPM Department, University of California, 130 Mulford Hall #3114, Berkeley, CA 94720-3114, USA Github Google scholar Orcid ID: 0000-0002-3838-7357 Impactstory Personal website |
Marilia Gaiarsa
Post doctoral scholar
Marilia is a community ecologist from Brazil and interested in understanding the intrinsic organization of biological communities and the role of species interactions play in both the maintenance and persistence of biodiversity. During her PhD, at Universidade de Sao Paulo, she explored the ecological consequences of cascading effects in mutualistic networks, using computer simulations and empirical data to assess the relationship between the structure of ecological networks and their robustness to cascading effects. As a member of the Ponisio lab, she will focus specifically on plant-pollinator interactions at the individual scale, and how these patterns translate to the network scale and affect ecosystem function and community resilience. |
Magda Argueta
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Visiting Scholar, UC Mexus
Magda is a Mexican biologist whose research is focused on understanding how interspecific interactions contribute to the develop and maintenance of complex systems. She did her bachelors and masters work at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, UNAM. Pollination is her favorite ecological process to asses this issue. Her goal is to contribute to the development of her country through the dissemination of useful research tools for the conservation of ecological interactions in Mexico. She really loves field work, especially in areas with a strong seasonality. |
Contact:
magda_argueta_at_hotmail.com |
Kaysee Tom
Lab Manager
Kaysee received her B.S. in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley in 2013 – where she studied the effects of native vegetation on pollinators in mass-flowering sunflower crops – followed by a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University in 2014. She has since participated in projects promoting ecological resilience and restoration in New York City, studying the effects of rangeland management on bobwhite quail habitat in south Texas, and curating herpetological specimens from over a century of field research around the globe. Her current research interests focus on the disruption of plant-pollinator interactions and pollination networks via global change drivers, and the ecological implications of such disruptions. |
Contact:
kathleen.c.tom_at_gmail.com |
Julie Fowler
Field Technician
Julie is a student at Emory University and the Rollins School of Public Health pursing a dual degree that combines a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science and a Masters of Public Health in Environmental Health. During her time at Emory she performed research on DNA metabarcoding for use in recreating pollinator networks and hope to continue with pollination biology through the lenses of both human and ecosystem health. She has a deep passion for being in the field and have performed field work in Atlanta, The Bahamas, and South Africa, and am now very excited to join the lab working in Arizona and New Mexico. |
julie.fowler_at_emory.edu
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