People
Team Lead
Dr. Heather Kharouba
University Research Chair in Global Change Ecology
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
Academic Experience
NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for Population Biology Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Davis
Education
PhD, University of British Columbia
MSc, University of Ottawa
BSc, University of Ottawa
Artist-in-residence
Valérie Chartrand
Jens Ulrich
Valérie Chartrand’s practice focuses on the loss of biodiversity and reduction in insect populations due to climate change and human interference in insect life cycles. She primarily employs imprint techniques, using found insects and non-toxic materials. She has participated in several artist residencies and group exhibitions. Her first solo exhibition, Ghost Hives, took place at La Maison des artistes in Winnipeg in 2017. Her MFA thesis show, Inspiderations, was presented at Gallery 101 in Ottawa in 2021.
Post Doctoral Fellows
Postdoctoral researcher (2025-)
ujens[at]uottawa[dot]ca
Jens is interested in understanding how to design and manage habitats and landscapes that support long-term insect biodiversity conservation. His current postdoctoral research will use computational/theoretical approaches to determine how species interaction network structure and species trait diversity affect ecosystem resilience to climate change.
Grad students
Lily Charles
MSc candidate (2024-)
Co-supervised by Dr. Greg Mitchell at Environment and Climate Change Canada
lchar061[at]uottawa[dot]ca
Lily is interested in conservation research that has a broad impact. Her research is taking place within former agricultural properties in Norfolk County that have been restored to grassland habitats by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. She is looking to understand the use of different nectar resources by monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and other butterflies, and other restoration decisions on pollinator recovery.
Nicole Kester
MSc candidate (2024-)
Co-supervised by Dr. Tyler Smith at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
nkest080[at]uottawa[dot]ca
Nicole is interested in invasive species and understanding the patterns of their spread. She is expanding her Honours project and is quantifying niche shifts for over 250 species of invasive plants in North America, which will help inform predictions about the future distributions of these species in their introduced ranges.
Honours students
Astra Vainio-Mattila
Honours student (2025-2026)
Astra is interested in the relationships between organisms and their environment, and is studying the changes in butterfly behaviour in a warming experiment. Using cameras to record monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), they hope to find out if there is a difference in thermoregulatory and feeding behaviours in butterflies due to warmer conditions.
Laura Aleta Bell
PhD Student (2025-)
lbell044[at]uottawa[dot]ca
Laura is interested in understanding how environmental stress affects species interactions. Her research aims to inform conservation practices to create resilient ecological communities. She will be conducting field research to study how drought impacts insect and plant recovery in meadow restoration and the role of introduced species in community resilience.
Olivia Demetrakopoulos
MSc candidate (2025-)
odeme069@uottawa.ca
Olivia is interested in the ecological impacts of climate change, particularly in the context of phenology and plant-pollinator interactions. My research focuses on how climatic extremes affect seasonal nectar availability for pollinators, and the physiological consequences of these changes on monarch butterflies.
Jenna Boomhower
MSc candidate (2025-)
jboom073@uottawa.ca
Jenna is interested in the role of introduced plants in the diet of monarch butterflies. Her field research involves monarch feeding trials to determine the nectar quality of different wildflowers. The purpose of her research is to inform best practices in restoration efforts that will contribute to the conservation of monarch butterflies.
Jordan-Anne Rich
Honours student (2025-2026)
Jordan-Anne is researching how warming impacts floral pigmentation. Pollinators often locate food sources through the UV-markings found on flowers, these markings however, may change as a result of global warming. Using UV-photography, Jordan-Anne is comparing two flower treatments, one warming and one control, to help better understand this issue.
Lab alumni
Gallery
Lab in September 2021.
Lab in September 2022. Missing from picture: Nico, Marianne, Sarah B. and HK
Lab in December 2020. COVID times!
Lab in December 2019. Missing from picture: Sam B, Emma, Megan.
Sharla's post MSc defence get-together. June 2021.