Ashwin successfully defended his PhD Dissertation “The influence of fragment size on biotic interactions that structure plant communities in the Asian tropics” on 8th March. Great work Ashwin!

James has joined the lab as a post-doc working on the Fragmented Ecological Network project! James brings expertise in plant ecology and evolution to the group in addition to a dazzling array of quantitative and practical skills. We’re thrilled to have him with us!

New paper out in Journal of Ecology on the effects of defaunation on spatial patterns of trees in the western Amazon. Defaunation is associated with increased clustering of trees that persists into older (1 cm diameter at breast height) stems. We also find evidence that clustering decreases through size classes, indicative of negative density dependence. However, defaunation doesn’t appear to intensify thinning of conspecific stems.

We are looking for a post-doc to work on an NSF funded project investigating how forest fragmentation alters interactions between herbivorous lepidoptera, their host-plants and predators.

Please apply via the web portal . We will start reviewing applications on September 25, 2017.

A new R package for analysing spatial point patterns has just been made public from the labs github site. The new version uses the lme4 package to fit linear mixed effects models, speeding up performance dramatically. The new package has much more intuitive syntax, including a function klmerHyper that fits the models, confint that computes confidence intervals on parameters and predictions and anova that quantifies the contributions of parameters to explaining the overall variance.

There are two paid, 9-week, internship positions on the Fragmented Ecological Network (FEN) project this summer (see here for details)

We are excited to announce (seek link) a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) position, funded by NSF. The successful applicant will work on the Fragmented Ecological Networks position in the Bagchi, Wagner, Singer and Elphick labs.

We are delighted to welcome Leone Brown to the group as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Lee is going to be leading the NSF-funded project on the impacts of forest fragmentation on tritrophic interactions in Connecticut. Lee joins us after completing post-docs at the University of Georgia and Tufts/Harvard and her PhD at Stony Brook.

The Bagchi and Elphick labs are looking for BIRD SURVEY TECHNICIAN to conduct forest bird research in Connecticut. The technician will conduct forest bird surveys (point counts, etc.) in forest fragments throughout Connecticut, and should expect challenging conditions with daily pre-dawn starts, heat/humidity, biting insects, ticks, poison ivy, etc. The ideal candidate will (1) be able to identify New England forest birds by sight and sound, (2) have previous experience conducting point count surveys, (3) be familiar with GPS and map navigation, (4) be self-motivated and physically fit, (5) have a positive attitude, (6) work well with minimal supervision, both independently and as part of a team, and (7) be capable of conducting data entry efficiently and carefully.

Bird surveys will be conducted as part of a large project investigating the impacts of fragmentation on ecological networks in temperate forest ecosystems in the northeastern United States. The study seeks to develop a mechanistic understanding of fragmentation-induced shifts in the structure of ecological networks involving herbivorous caterpillars, and their host-plants, parasitoids, and predators. Technician may be required to help with other aspects of the larger study, as time allows.

Salary ranges from $420-$480 per week, depending on experience. Technician must provide their own vehicle, but all mileage will be reimbursed at the standard rate set by the state of Connecticut. Position is for approximately two months beginning approx. 10th May 2017 (exact dates are somewhat negotiable).

To apply, please send a cover letter and CV with contact information (email and phone) for three references to Chris Elphick, chris.elphick@uconn.edu. Please include “FOREST BIRD TECH” in the email subject line and include your last name at the start of the name of any submitted documents (e.g., Elphick_CV.pdf). Review of applications will begin immediately.

Our paper “Forecasting potential routes for movement of endemic birds among important sites for biodiversity in the Albertine Rift under projected climate change” has been published online by Ecography.