Jonathan Myers – Professor

Jonathan explores the processes that determine the assembly, diversity, and dynamics of ecological communities across local, landscape, and biogeographic scales. He earned an associate degree in Forest Recreation from Paul Smith’s College in 1999, a BS in Biological Sciences (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology) from Cornell University in 2002, a MS in Interdisciplinary Ecology in the Department of Botany at the University of Florida in 2005, and a PhD in Biological Sciences (Systematics, Ecology and Evolution) from Louisiana State University in 2010. Prior to joining the faculty in the Department of Biology at Washington University, Jonathan held a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University’s Tyson Research Center (2010-2012). Jonathan enjoys traveling, music from around the world, photography, biking, birding, camping and hiking, fly fishing, soccer, and chess.

Google Scholar   |   CV (Oct. 2024)   |   Photography   |   ResearchGate   |   ORCID   |   Twitter: @jamyersecology

Anna Wassel – Ph.D. Student

Anna joined the Evolution, Ecology and Population Biology (EEPB) Program in 2020. She earned a BS in Environmental Science from Emory University. Anna’s research explores temperate forest community assembly, especially interactions between woody and herbaceous species, and nitrogen-fixing and non-fixing species. When not thinking about plants, Anna enjoys photography, jigsaw puzzles, and making the perfect coffee.

Google Scholar   |   a.c.wassel@wustl.edu   |   Twitter: @AnnaWassel

Ethan Abercrombie – Ph.D. Student

Ethan joined the Evolution, Ecology and Population Biology (EEPB) Program in 2020. He earned a BS in Biology (Ecology & Biodiversity Concentration) from Humboldt State University. Ethan’s research explores the community-level consequences of climate change. During his free time you can find Ethan tree climbing, running, or searching for plants.

Google Scholar   |   abercrombie@wustl.edu   |   Twitter: @ERAbercrombie

Elliott Smith – Research Technician

Elliott joined our research team in Summer 2023 and co-leads our field research and the third census of the ForestGEO Plot at Tyson Research Center. He earned a BS in Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity from the University of Michigan in 2022. While at Michigan, his research focused on grassland community assembly, plant-arthropod interactions, and the effect of climate change on insect pollinators. When he is not censusing forest plots, Elliott will frequently be out and about exploring St. Louis, developing his amateur DJ skills, or finding species to add to his iNaturalist profile.

elliotts@wustl.edu

Evan Parker – Research Technician

Evan joined our research team in Summer 2023 and co-leads our field research and the third census of the ForestGEO Plot at Tyson Research Center. He earned a BS in Environmental Studies from Yale University. After graduating, Evan conducted forest-ecology research at the Luquillo ForestGEO Plot in Puerto Rico. Evan is interested in all things trees and forest ecology, but is particularly interested in researching forest management practices in the context of global change.

evanp@wustl.edu

Gibson Blankenship – Research Technician

Gibson joined our research team in Summer 2023 and co-leads our field research and the third census of the ForestGEO Plot at Tyson Research Center. He earned a BS in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While at the University of Illinois, he conducted forest-ecology research at the Trelease Woods ForestGEO Plot in Illinois, and botanical research for the Critical Trends Assessment Program of the Illinois Natural History Survey.

gibson.b@wustl.edu

Leonel Caceres – Research Technician

Leonel joined our research team in Summer 2023 and co-leads our field research and the third census of the ForestGEO Plot at Tyson Research Center. He earned a BS in Biology from Davidson College. While at Davidson, he was National Science Foundation Research Fellow and conducted forest-ecology research at the Davidson Reserve.

caceres@wustl.edu

Lyle Usdin – Undergraduate Student

Lyle joined our research group in Fall 2022 and was a member of our forest biodiversity team at Tyson Research Center in Summer 2022. As part of his Biology Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (BioSURF) and Charles M. Fulgraff Botany Fellowship, Lyle is studying responses of forest tree communities to climate change in the Tyson Research Center ForestGEO Plot. Lyle is co-mentored by Jonathan and Ethan Abercrombie.

l.usdin@wustl.edu

Former Graduate Students & Post-Docs

Christopher Catano – Ph.D. (2019)

Chris joined the EEPB Graduate Program in 2014. He earned a BS in Biology from the University of South Florida and an MS in Biology from the University of Central Florida. Prior to joining our group, Chris held a position as a biological scientist in the Trexler Lab at Florida International University. Chris’ PhD thesis explored how and why community assembly mechanisms and environmental change interact to determine beta-diversity and the stability of regional ecosystems. Current position: Postdoctoral Research Associate – Department of Plant Biology (Brudvig Lab), Michigan State University.

Website   |   Google Scholar   |   chcatano@gmail.com   |   Twitter: @catano_chris

David Henderson – Ph.D. (2023)

David joined the Evolution, Ecology and Population Biology (EEPB) Program in 2018. He earned a BS in Biological Sciences from Northern Illinois University. David’s PhD research explored the role of local biotic interactions and chemically-mediated niches in structuring tree diversity across a tropical elevational gradient. David was co-advised by Jonathan and Sebastian Tello (Missouri Botanical Garden Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development).

dhenders013@gmail.com

Dilys Vela Díaz – Ph.D. (2019)

Dilys joined the EEPB Graduate Program in 2013. She earned a BS in Biology from the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana in Iquitos, Peru, and an MS in Plant Systematics from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Prior to joining our group, Dilys held a position as a laboratory technician in the Kellogg Lab at UMSL. Dilys’ PhD thesis explored the importance of ecological niche-assembly mechanisms as drivers of species diversity and relative abundance across temperate and tropical forests. Current position: Microbiomes and Global Change Project Coordinator – Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Irvine.

dilysvela66@gmail.com   |   Twitter: @18_malvina

Joseph LaManna – Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2018)

Joe was a Tyson Research Center Postdoctoral Fellow from 2015-2018. He earned a BA in English Literature from the University of Michigan, an MS in Natural Resources from Humboldt State University, and a PhD in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana. Joe’s postdoctoral research explored the causes and consequences of biotic interactions and community assembly across trophic levels. Current position: Assistant Professor – Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University.

Website   |   Google Scholar   |   joseph.lamanna@marquette.edu   |   Twitter: @JoeALaManna

Marko Spasojevic – Postdoctoral Fellow (2013-2015)

Marko was a Tyson Research Center Postdoctoral Fellow from 2013-2015. He earned a BS in Biology (Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation) from the University of Washington and PhD in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine. Prior to joining our group, Marko held a postdoctoral position at UC Davis. Marko’s postdoctoral research explored the ecological consequences of plant functional diversity across spatial scales. Current position: Assistant Professor – Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California-Riverside.

Website   |   Google Scholar   |   markos@ucr.edu   |   Twitter: @M_J_Spasojevic

William Farfan-Rios – Living Earth Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2022)

William was a Living Earth Collaborative (LEC) Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellow from 2019-2022. Prior to joining our group in September 2019, William earned a BA in Biology from the Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco (Peru) and an MS and PhD in Biology from Wake Forest University. William’s postdoctoral research integrated data from long-term forest inventories across the Andes-to-Amazon elevational gradient to explore the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity and ecosystem processes. William was co-supervised by Jonathan and Sebastian Tello (Missouri Botanical Garden Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development). Current position: Biodiversity Fellow, Wake Forest Uiversity.

Google Scholar   |   wfarfan@gmail.com   |   Twitter: @W_FarhanRios

Former Undergraduate Honors-Thesis Students

Emily Dewald-Wang

B.S. Environmental Biology (2019)

Emily’s thesis explored plant chemical traits and density dependence in temperate forests. After WashU, she held research positions at Marquette University and UC Berkeley. Emily is currently a PhD Student at UC Berkeley studying community / disease ecology.

Jacqueline Reu

B.S. Environmental Biology (2019)

Jackie’s thesis explored scale dependence of biodiversity and forest ecosystem functioning. After WashU, she held research positions at the Smithsonian Marine Station (Florida) and Smithsonian Marine Invasions Lab (California).

Elizabeth Yablon

B.A. Environmental Studies (2013)

Elizabeth’s thesis explored plant functional traits and tree community assembly. After WashU, she completed a M.A. in biology education from New York University.

Former Research Technicians

Paul Elliott

Research Technician (2019-2021)
B.S. Environmental Biology, WashU

Sera Holland

Research Technician (2018)
B.S. Forest Resource Mgmt., University of Missouri Columbia

Aaron Steinberg

Research Technician (2016)
B.A. Biology, Hendrix College
B.A. Biology, Hendrix College

Former Tyson Undergraduate Research Fellows

Patricia Chen

WashU – Environmental Earth Science (2015)

Liam Engel

WashU – Biology                      
(2017)

Melanie Grasso

Southeast Missouri State U. – Environmental Science (2018)

Hayley Huntley

Southeast Missouri State U. – Environmental Policy (2017)

Mariel Lutz

WashU – Environmental Biology (2017)

Maddy Salzman

WashU – Environmental Studies (2011)

Jacqueline Treiger

WashU – Environmental Biology (2013)

Alice Xu

WashU – Environmental Biology & Philosophy (2019)

Students Not Pictured:

• Michael Gjelsten, WashU – Applied Mathematics (2015)
• Diana Jerome, WashU – Environmental Biology (2015)
• Tess Rogers, University of Minnesota Twin Cities – Evolution & Animal Behavior Major (2015)
• Merrill Rudd, WashU – Environmental Studies (2011)
• Maria Weston, Northern Illinois University – Biology (2015)