Biosketch

Brett Melbourne

Brett Melbourne

Biosketch
Associate Professor - 2008-present. Dept Ecology & Evolutionary Biology , University of Colorado Boulder. Proj. Scientist - 2006-2008. Dept Environmental Science & Policy , University of California Davis. Postdoc - 2005-2006. Dept of Evolution & Ecology , University of California Davis. 2002-2005. Center for Population Biology , University of California Davis. 2001-2002. CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology , Australia. Graduate - PhD, 2001. Australian National University. Theoretical ecology. Undergraduate - B.Sc...

PhD student

Geoff Legault

Geoff Legault

PhD student
I study how demographic stochasticity affects populations and communities using a combination of mathematical models and microcosms. I am interested in how deterministic models (with or without stochastic approximations) differ in terms of biological outcomes from fully stochastic models. The fully stochastic models I use are constructed using Kolmogorov forward equations or simulated with the Gillespie algorithm. Further, I validate the use of these models in a Daphnia model system.
Lauren Shoemaker

Lauren Shoemaker

PhD student
I am a community ecologist interested in exploring patterns of coexistence and community composition. My research focuses on extending modern coexistence theory to incorporate the interplay between heterogeneity and stochasticity in spatially varying environments (metacommunities). I use a combination of analytical techniques and simulations to explore equalizing and stabilizing coexistence mechanisms and the relative role of biotic interactions versus abiotic heterogeneity. Additionally, I study how equalizing and stabilizing mechanisms may...
Ty Tuff

Ty Tuff

PhD student
The unifying theme behind all of my research is adding spatial movement to ecological and evolutionary processes. I develop hypotheses about the role of relative movement in ecological systems and the spatial patterns that develop when different parts of the natural system move in different directions or with different speeds relative to each other. I test these ideas using a mixture of theoretical modeling and highly replicated experimental microcosms with...
Topher Weiss

Topher Weiss-Lehman

PhD student
I focus on using mathematical and computational techniques to investigate the role of spatial structure in population dynamics. Specifically, I am interested in the role of spatially induced eco-evolutionary dynamics in the process of spatial spread. These dynamics, also referred to as “spatial selection,” have been shown to be at least partially responsible for the increased invasion speed observed in cane toads in Australia (Phillips et al. 2006) and to...

Postdoctoral Fellow

Doctor Tucker

Dr Caroline Tucker

Postdoctoral Fellow
Broadly I am an interested in combining observational and experimental approaches to community ecology with ecological theory. With members of the Melbourne lab, I am working on projects focused on the implications of phenotypic plasticity (and other sources of individual variation) for community assembly and competitive dynamics. This includes identifying competitive models that can incorporate the effects of plasticity, and carrying out competition experiments using freshwater zooplankton species like Daphnia...