

James F. Cahill (JC)
Professor
JC has been in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta since 1999. His research interests are broad, as evidenced by his publication record. Constant themes include conceptually grounded experimental tests of fundamental questions in ecology and conservation biology, root ecology, plant behavioural ecology, and community assembly and function.

Jessica Grenke
Ph.D. Candidate
Jessica is researching the functional consequences of grazing management on plant communities. Her doctoral thesis tackles this topic from operational (via surveys of working ranches across Western Canada), mechanistic (via a controlled mesocosm study), and theoretical perspectives.

Emily Holden
Ph.D. Student
Emily is broadly interested in plant coexistence and competition, and how we can use plant functional traits as a tool to learn about community assembly processes. Her research is field-based in central Alberta. After completing my BSc with Specialization in Ecology at U of A in 2018, Emily worked in municipal sustainability before beginning her graduate studies in September 2019. She is passionate about scientific communication, community engagement, and conservation.

Tianna Barber-Cross
MSc student (Fall 2021)
Tianna is studying root foraging behaviour in flax and sunflower.

Kenneth Oppon
M.Sc. Student
Kenny is interested in the various processes which affect the structure of plant communities. His current research focuses on understanding the interplay between plant communities and their soils and how this relationship can help understand the diversity observed within plant communities.
Stella Gibbon
I-Steam Intern
Everett Durnforn
Undergraduate Field Assistant
Previous Members

Post-docs & Visiting Scientists
- Dr. Alessandro Filazzola
- Dr. Yilei Fan
- Dr. He Feng
- Dr. Tan Bao
- Dr. Pierre-Luc Chagnon
- Dr. Guillermo Bueno
- Dr. Tong Zongyong
- Dr. Inderjit
- Dr. Justine Karst
- Dr. Ping Wang
Graduate Students
- Dr. Baka Amgaa (PhD)
- Dr. Charlotte Brown (PhD)
- Dr. Margarete Dettlaff (PhD)
- Dr. Gisela Stotz (PhD)
- Dr. Gregory Pec (PhD)
- Dr. Tan Bao (PhD)
- Dr. Shannon White (PhD)
- Dr. Jon Bennett (PhD)
- Dr. Samson Nyanumba (PhD)
- Dr. Stephen Mayor (PhD)
- Dr. Gord McNickle (PhD)
- Dr. Eric Lamb (PhD)
- Dr. Steve Kembel (PhD)
- Dr. Behnaz Attaein
- Dr. Natalie Cleavitt
- Habba Mahall (MSc)
- Karina Salimbayeva (MSc)
- Megan Ljubotina (MSc)
- Pamela Belter (MSc)
- Paul Cigan (MSc)
- Michael Clark (MSc)
- Bryon Shore (MSc)
- Matthew Mitchell (MSc)
- Malcolm Coupe (MSc)
- Melissa Brown (MSc)
Undergraduate Students
- Stasha Lysyk (Biol 499)
- Rachelle Lugar (Biol 399)
- Heather Anderson (Biol 398)
- Elly Smith (Biol 399)
- Kenneth Oppon (BIOL499)
- Brody Nagtegaal (BIOL499)
- Theodore Blenkinsopp (BIOL499)
- Habba Mahal (BIOL499)
- Gail Classens (BIOL 499)
- Emily Holden (BIOL 498)
- Tianna Barber-Cross (BIOL299, NSERC USRA)
- Isaac Peetoom Heida (NSERC USRA)
- Nick Brown
- Jacey Bronson
- Shelby Stenerson
- Megan Ljubotina (URI, BIOL499)
- Kelsie Hardman
- Alec Carrigy (NSERC USRA, BIOL399,498,499)
- Valerie Marshall (URI, BIOL499)
- Sydney Wild
- Kaeleigh Stinnissen (BIOL498)
- Logan Fairgreave-Park
- Nabeel Khan (BIOL399, BIOL498)
- Morgan Randall (BIOL498, BIOL499)
- Katharine Melnik (BIOL499)
- Glenn Gensler (BIOL498)
- Alex Sywenky (BIOL399, BIOL499)
- Rebecca Koehn (BIOL299)
- Amelie Roberto-Charron (BIOL499)
- Evelyn Jensen (BIOL498)
- Emily Gould (NSERC USRA)
- Kristen Peck
- Gwen Roy (BIOL498)
- Naomi Maffrey (NSERC USRA)
- John Taggert
- Tara Steigletz (NSERC USRA)
- Gerald Singh (NSERC USRA)
- Agnieszka Kotowska (NSERC USRA)
- Amanda Doyle (NSERC USRA)
- Chakanaka Zinyemba
- Dao Phan
- Qiting Chen
- Christina Colenutt
- Melanie Patchell
- Tianna Magis
- Monica Kohler
- Glen Smith (NSERC USRA)
- Eliza Duestch (NSERC USRA)
- Jocelyn Stacey (NSERC USRA)
- Nadeesha Fernando (NSERC USRA)
- Josh Haag (NSERC USRA)