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 (New York) in 1999, a BS in Biological Sciences (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Concentration) from Cornell University (New York) 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 from 2010 to 2012. Jonathan enjoys travel, photography, world music, biking, birding, camping and hiking, fly fishing, chess, soccer and supporting St. Louis CITY SC and Liverpool FC.

Google Scholar   |   CV (Jan. 2026)   |   Photography   |   ResearchGate   |   ORCID   |   @jamyersecology.bsky.social

Chloe Gehret – Ph.D. Student

Chloe joined the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Program in 2023. She earned a BS in Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity from Temple University (Pennsylvania) in 2023. Chloe’s PhD thesis research explores belowground functional traits and ecosystem functioning in tropical montane forests. When she is not trekking through the forest for field work, Chloe loves to climb fake rocks (and sometimes real), take long strolls through Forest Park with a coffee in hand, and attempt to summit mountains in South America.

LinkedIn   |   c.a.gehret@wustl.edu

Noah Clayton – Ph.D. Student

Noah joined the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Program in 2023. He earned a BS in Biology and a BA Environmental Studies from Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) in 2023. Noah’s PhD thesis research explores the effects of microbial communities and natural enemies on plant coexistence and biodiversity maintenance using experiments and mathematical models. In his free time, Noah enjoys playing saxophone, listening to jazz music, hiking, and reading fiction.

LinkedIn   |   clayton.n@wustl.edu

Golde Umlas – Undergraduate Student

Golde is a senior and biology major (ecology and evolution track) at Washington University in St. Louis. She joined our team as a Summer Undergraduate Research Guided Experience (SURGE) student and Living Earth Collaborative (LEC) Summer Undergraduate Researcher in Summer 2025. In collaboration with Noah Clayton (Ph.D. student) and The Penczykowski Lab, Golde is experimentally testing the effects of drought and soil microbes on the performance of co-occurring native and introduced Plantago plants.

g.b.umlas@wustl.edu

Stella Parker – Tyson Undergraduate Research Fellow

Stella is a senior and biology major at the Washington University in St. Louis. She joined our team as a Tyson Research Center Undergraduate Fellow in Summer 2025. As a member of the Tyson Forest Biodiversity Team, Stella worked on a long-term study of forest dynamics in the Species Pool, Fire & Diversity (SPFD) Experiment. For her summer research poster, Stella explored neighborhood interactions in the invasive shrub species, Lonicera maackii (Bush Honeysuckle), in the Tyson Research Center ForestGEO Plot. 

parker.s.j@wustl.edu

Former Graduate Students & Post-Docs

Anna Wassel – Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2025)

Anna joined the EEB Program in 2020. She earned a BS in Environmental Science from Emory University (Georgia). Prior to starting her PhD, Anna held a position as an ecology technician in our research group at Tyson Research Center. Anna’s PhD thesis explored how a dominant tree species influences biodiversity, community assembly, and species relative abundance in forest herb communities, using the locally dominant, patch-forming pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba) as a model study species in temperate oak-hickory forests.

Google Scholar   |   LinkedIn   |   a.c.wassel@wustl.edu 

Christopher Catano – Ph.D. Evolution, Ecology & Population Biology (2019)

Chris joined the EEPB 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: Assistant Professor – Department of Botany & Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside.

Website   |   Google Scholar   |   ccatano@ucr.edu

David Henderson – Ph.D. Evolution, Ecology & Population Biology (2023)

David joined the 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). Current position: Data Scientist – FreeLance, California.

Google Scholar   |   LinkedIn   |   dhenders013@proton.me

Ethan Abercrombie – Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2025)

Ethan joined the EEB Program in 2020. He earned a BS in Biology (Ecology & Biodiversity Concentration) from Humboldt State University (California). Ethan’s PhD thesis explored ecological drivers of spatial and temporal beta-diversity in montane ecosystems using empirical studies of small mammals, birds, and forest trees. Current position: Environmental Specialist, Eocene Environmental Group, California.

Google Scholar   |   LinkedIn   |   abercrombie@wustl.edu 

Dilys Vela Díaz – Ph.D. Evolution, Ecology & Population Biology (2019)

Dilys joined the EEPB 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: Associate Director – McNair Scholar Program, Portland State University, Oregon.

LinkedIn   |   dilysvela66@gmail.com

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 (California), 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, Wisconsin.

Website   |   Google Scholar   |   joseph.lamanna@marquette.edu

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 the University of California (UC), Irvine. Prior to joining our group, Marko held a postdoctoral position in the Harrison Lab at UC Davis. Marko’s postdoctoral research explored the ecological consequences of plant functional diversity across spatial scales. Current position: Associate Professor – Dept. of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside.

Website   |   Google Scholar   |   markos@ucr.edu

William Farfan-Rios – Living Earth Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-22)

William was a Living Earth Collaborative (LEC) Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellow from 2019-2022. He 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 (North Carolina). 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 forest biodiversity. William was co-supervised by Jonathan and Sebastian Tello (Missouri Botanical Garden). Current position: Biodiversity Fellow – Andrew Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability, Wake Forest University, North Carolina.

Google Scholar   |   wfarfan@gmail.com

Former Undergraduate Honors-Thesis Students

Emily Dewald-Wang

B.S. Environmental Biology (2019)

Emily’s thesis explored tree chemical traits and density dependence in forests. After WashU, she held a research position in forest ecology at Marquette University (LaManna Lab) and completed an MA in integrative biology at UC Berkeley (Koskella Lab).   LinkedIn

Carly Ramacher

B.S. Environmental Biology (2025)

Carly’s thesis explored forest herb and tree community assembly and trait-environment interactions. After WashU, they joined our team as a research technician at Tyson Research Center.

Maya Samuels-Fair

B.S. Biology / Ecology & Evolution (2020)

Maya’s thesis explored fire, dispersal, and predation effects on seedling community assembly. After WashU, she held a research position in paleobiology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Maya is currently a PhD student at UC Berkeley (Finnegan Lab) studying marine paleobiology.

Elizabeth Yablon

B.A. Environmental Studies (2013)

Elizabeth’s thesis explored tree functional diversity and community assembly across environmental gradients. After WashU, she completed an MA in science education at New York University and an MBA at Harvard Business School.    LinkedIn

Former Research Technicians

Brett Decker

Research Technician (2012)
B.S. Biology
B.S. Biology

Jocelyn Frazelle

Research Technician (2016)
B.A. Environmental Studies, University of Illinois-Springfield

Jennifer Kidson

Research Technician (2013)
B.S. Biology, Principia College, IL
B.S. Biology, Principia College

Carly Ramacher

Research Technician (2025)
B.S. Environmental Biology, WashU

Lyle Usdin

Research Technician (2024)
B.S. Environmental Biology, WashU

Former Tyson Undergraduate Research Fellows

Arden Brewer

WashU – Biology & Political Science (2018)

Maura Collins

Washington College, MD – Environmental Science (2022)

Rachel Derner

University of Missouri-Columbia – Environmental Science (2024, 2025)

Paul Elliott

WashU – Environmental Biology (2018)

Maggie Gardner

WashU – Environmental Biology (2014)

Kate Harline

WashU – Biology                                      (2013-2014)

Hayley Huntley

Southeast Missouri State U. – Environmental Policy (2017)

Sam Ko

WashU – Environmental Biology (2024)

Mariel Lutz

WashU – Environmental Biology (2017)

Erin Prein

WashU – Environmental Earth Science & Education (2024)

Blue Schade

University of Maine – Marine Science (2024)

Jacqueline Treiger

WashU – Environmental Biology (2013)

Emily Wen

WashU – Environmental Biology (2014)

Louis Paese

University of Vermont – Forestry (2025)

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)