Principal Investigator
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Postdoctoral Fellows
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Lucas Gorné
2021-present Lucas completed his BSc in Biology in 2012, where his final thesis was on circadian rhythms in the phospholipid composition of cell membranes in mammals under the supervision of the Dr. Mario Guido. In 2018, he completed his PhD where he studied the effect of ungulate herbivory on resource use strategies and resistance and tolerance of native plants from mid-west Argentina under the supervision of the Dr. Sandra Díaz. Both degrees are from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, at Córdoba, Argentina. He continued as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Díaz until 2021 looking at contemporary evolution of plants and plant functional ecology. Currently, Lucas aims to contribute to the understanding of the ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of variation in contemporary phenotypic rates of change. In his spare time, Lucas enjoys hiking, cooking (and eating) and learning karate-do. |
Graduate Students
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Alexis Heckley
PhD 2020 - present Alexis received a B.Sc. in Animal Biology from the University of Alberta in 2017. Afterwards, she worked on a number of conservation projects, primarily with frogs and bats, and completed an internship and fellowship at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, investigating sleeping and exploration behaviour in Jamaican fruit bats. For her Ph.D., Alexis intends to investigate how parasitism and ancestry impact dispersal behaviour in stickleback fish. Outside of research, her favourite activities include travelling, scuba diving, and adventuring with her dog, Mr. Flea. Alexis is co-supervised by Andrew Hendry at McGill University. Photo by Léa Blondel |
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Alex Popescu
MSc 2021-present Alex completed his BSc in Biology at Concordia university and is currently working toward a MSc at Brock under the supervision of Dr. Kiyoko Gotanda. He aims to study the effects of urbanization on avian species, specifically crows. In his spare time, Alex enjoys watching movies and TV shows, cooking, and reading. To learn more about Alex's project and help Alex find crows in the Niagara region, check out his website!! |
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Albert Wu
PhD 2021-present Albert completed his BSc in Biology at the University of Toronto, and his MSc in Biology at McMaster University, studying the effects of kin recognition on plant behavior, and invasive plant species. Albert is currently starting and working on his PhD and aims to study the effects of domestication and feralization on domestication syndromes in Trinidadian guppies. His hobbies include reading, biking, picking up and trying a variety of new minor hobbies, and of course, sleeping. |
Alumni who are missed
Co-op Students
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Kristen Vlahiotis
Fall 2021 She completed a co-op in the Gotanda lab focusing on a systematic review and lab coordination. She is interested in exploring the ecological effects human disturbances, such as urbanization, have on the adaptation of certain animal populations. In her spare time, she can be found hiking, mountain biking and bird-watching. |
Undergraduates
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David Lever
2019 David studied taste preferences in Darwin's Finches. He is currently a communications consultant. |
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Sam Armstrong
2018-2019 Sam studied how predation affected male guppy colour pattern in a laboratory setting. He is currently in vet school. |
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Hatty Darling
2017-2018 Hatty studied how predation affected male guppy colour pattern in a laboratory setting. She is currently an Associate Strategy Consultant at EY-Parthenon. |
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Alba Landra
2017-2018 Alba studied functional reference in grunts in the common brown lemur vocal system. She is currently a designer for Albetta International, a sustainable children's clothing and toy brand and has set up her own toy brand on the online marketplace NOTHS. |