Phoebe Lehmann Zarnetske
Professor, Michigan State University, Integrative Biology and EEB
Director, Institute for Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, and Macrosystems (IBEEM)
Fall '21 - Summer '22: sabbatical, University of Lyon, France
plz (at) msu.edu
PhD 2011 Oregon State University
MS 2006 Utah State University
BA 2001 Colby College
C.V.
she.her.hers
Research Interests:
I am a community ecologist in the Department of Integrative Biology at Michigan State University and am Director of the Institute for Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, and Macrosystems (IBEEM). I am affiliated with the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (EEB) Program, Environmental Science and Policy Program (ESPP), and Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) LTER. I initiated the Spatial Ecology Graduate Certificate Program.
My research program uses a combination of observational data, experiments, and modeling to connect observed patterns of biodiversity and community composition with underlying mechanisms. Specifically, I am interested in how the composition and geographic distribution of species and ecological communities are affected by biotic interactions, species invasions, biophysical feedbacks, geodiversity, climate change, land use change, and geoengineering. A central goal of my research program is to understand which species and ecological communities are most sensitive and/or resilient to climate change. In turn, some of these species may act as "biotic multipliers" of climate change through their outsized impacts on other species, ecological communities, and ecosystem functions. My research is often interdisciplinary, with collaborators in remote sensing, climate science, geomorphology, mathematics, statistics, and engineering.
In my free time, I enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing, cooking, gardening, photography, and traveling with my family.
Background: My prior appointments include: Assistant Professor, MSU Forestry, and Fisheries & Wildlife; and a Yale Climate and Energy Institute Postdoctoral Fellow in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. As a graduate student I conducted habitat modeling on Utah forests (Utah State University), and invasive species and ecosystem service research on the US Pacific Northwest Coast and New Zealand (Oregon State University). As an undergraduate, my research included wildlife population monitoring in Patagonia, Chile (Colby College/University of Connecticut), and sustainable development of coffee in Costa Rica (School for Field Studies).
Professor, Michigan State University, Integrative Biology and EEB
Director, Institute for Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, and Macrosystems (IBEEM)
Fall '21 - Summer '22: sabbatical, University of Lyon, France
plz (at) msu.edu
PhD 2011 Oregon State University
MS 2006 Utah State University
BA 2001 Colby College
C.V.
she.her.hers
Research Interests:
I am a community ecologist in the Department of Integrative Biology at Michigan State University and am Director of the Institute for Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, and Macrosystems (IBEEM). I am affiliated with the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (EEB) Program, Environmental Science and Policy Program (ESPP), and Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) LTER. I initiated the Spatial Ecology Graduate Certificate Program.
My research program uses a combination of observational data, experiments, and modeling to connect observed patterns of biodiversity and community composition with underlying mechanisms. Specifically, I am interested in how the composition and geographic distribution of species and ecological communities are affected by biotic interactions, species invasions, biophysical feedbacks, geodiversity, climate change, land use change, and geoengineering. A central goal of my research program is to understand which species and ecological communities are most sensitive and/or resilient to climate change. In turn, some of these species may act as "biotic multipliers" of climate change through their outsized impacts on other species, ecological communities, and ecosystem functions. My research is often interdisciplinary, with collaborators in remote sensing, climate science, geomorphology, mathematics, statistics, and engineering.
In my free time, I enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing, cooking, gardening, photography, and traveling with my family.
Background: My prior appointments include: Assistant Professor, MSU Forestry, and Fisheries & Wildlife; and a Yale Climate and Energy Institute Postdoctoral Fellow in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. As a graduate student I conducted habitat modeling on Utah forests (Utah State University), and invasive species and ecosystem service research on the US Pacific Northwest Coast and New Zealand (Oregon State University). As an undergraduate, my research included wildlife population monitoring in Patagonia, Chile (Colby College/University of Connecticut), and sustainable development of coffee in Costa Rica (School for Field Studies).
Postdocs
Funding: MSU African Future Leadership Program, MSU EEB, MSU IBEEM, NSF
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Lala Kounta
2023- Postdoctoral Associate, MSU Integrative Biology & EEB; 2023 IBEEM Postdoctoral Fellow 2022-2023: Postdoctoral Fellow, African Future Leadership Program kountala (at) msu.edu PhD 2019 Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar | UCAD · Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique website, LinkedIn Research Interests: My research aims to understanding the influence of global warming on ocean circulation and marine ecosystems especially extreme events like marine heat waves (MHW). MHW have major ecological impacts in marine ecosystems. The effects include biodiversity loss and changes in species behavior or performance, loss of genetic diversity and adaptive capacity, economic impacts from changes in fishery catch rates and mortality of species. It can potentially affect the life stages of species (i.e., larvae, newly settled juveniles, older juveniles and adults) and indirectly influence trophic relationships and community structure. I am interested in how MHW and other extreme events impact biodiversity, under current and future climate scenarios, including climate intervention scenarios. Background: I have a background in physics, including a bachelor's and master's in physics, and master's research in engineering sciences, specializing in meteorology, oceanography and dry land management. I obtained my PhD in environmental sciences at Sorbonne University (France) and also a PhD in oceanography and climate change at Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal). My PhD research focused on the circulation in the eastern tropical north Atlantic off West Africa, a region where coastal community strongly depend in the ocean which provides marines resources and employment for millions of people. |
Funding: NSF, MSU IBEEM
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Kelly Kapsar
2023- Postdoctoral Associate, Macrosystems Biodiversity, IBEEM Data Scientist kapsarke (at) msu.edu PhD 2022 Michigan State University BS 2014 Carlton College website Research Interests: Kelly is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist focused on solutions-driven approaches to conservation challenges in coupled human and natural systems. Through her research, she uses spatial data analysis and statistics to better understand human-wildlife interactions across scales of space and time. Her research interests also include community-engagement, knowledge integration, and reproducible research. In the SpaCE Lab, Kelly is working on the NSF Macrosystems Biodiversity project, focusing on data science and data products including associated analyses for drivers of biodiversity (disturbance, geodiversity, and climate). Kelly also works on data science research and training support with IBEEM. |
Graduate Students
Funding: NSF GRFP (National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship), KBS Graduate Fellow, Michigan State University DFI
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Moriah Young
PhD candidate, Integrative Biology and EEB youngmor (at) msu.edu BS 2015 Environmental Science, University of Michigan website Research Interests: My PhD research seeks to understand the effects of climate change on soil biota, plant, and herbivore interactions. Using a combination of field and greenhouse studies, my research works to address the ways in which the composition and structure of soil microbial communities respond to warming and drought, as well as describing the role that the soil microbial community has on plant traits, stress responses, and insect preferences in the presence of warming and drought. Ultimately, this knowledge will advance our ability to forecast climate change effects on ecological communities. Background: Several years of field research experiences led me, in a rather nontraditional way, to pursue my own research and a PhD. After graduating from my bachelor’s at UM, I worked seasonally in the field for five years on a range of ecological projects and gained experience in both the private and public sectors. From Michigan to the Northwest and back again to Michigan, I worked to restore ecosystems through an environmental non-profit, collected forestry data for the U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and performed plant surveys for several projects at different universities. |
Funding: MSU College of Natural Science Graduate Fellowship; KBS Graduate Fellow, MSU IMPACTS Fellowship; MSU Collections Fellowship
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Kara Dobson
PhD candidate, Integrative Biology and EEB dobsonk2 (at) msu.edu BS 2020 Biology, Penn State Behrend, Erie, PA website Research Interests: My research interests involve how plant communities respond to environmental climate change stressors. I am mainly interested in how plants alter their molecular physiology in response to changes in the climate, such as increased drought or salinity. Plants experiencing a climate change stressor may release volatile compounds that can alter neighboring plant communities through plant-plant communication. These stressed plants may also be a catalyst for changes in plant-insect interactions, as well as plant-soil interactions. Background: My research experience at Penn State Behrend includes climate change modeling and molecular biology. For climate change modeling, I studied how the Lake Erie microclimate affects the changing climate by modeling how temperatures and frost dates over the past 70 years have changed between the lake’s inland and coastal regions. For molecular biology, I studied how chemical compounds hinder fungal growth on potatoes, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. I also examined and identified fungal diseases on chestnut trees. |
Data Scientist & Data Engineer
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Pat Bills
MSU ICER; Research Software Engineer billspat (at) msu.edu Pat is the MSU SpaCE Lab's Data Scientist & Data Engineer extraordinaire. Pat has worked for IT and high performance computing in research for over 25 yrs in various capacities in many labs and departments on campus. He's trained or consulted with dozens of faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduates for programming high performance computing system, cloud computing, analysis and data management, research database design, web application design and development, scientific programming (R, Python, Fortran, shell script). His current appointment is with the Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research (ICER) as a Research Software Engineer. He luckily gets to spend about half of his time helping with data engineering and strategy for the MSU SpaCE Lab and MSU's IBEEM. |
Research Technicians
2017-present: Mark Hammond (Kellogg Biological Station)
Mark collaborates with Phoebe Zarnetske on the warmXtrophic experiment at Kellogg Biological Station and University of Michigan Biological Station and the Rainfall Manipulation Experiment at KBS LTER. Mark is vital for his depth of knowledge of KBS old field communities and KBS terrestrial experimental work, data collection, and on-site maintenance.
Mark collaborates with Phoebe Zarnetske on the warmXtrophic experiment at Kellogg Biological Station and University of Michigan Biological Station and the Rainfall Manipulation Experiment at KBS LTER. Mark is vital for his depth of knowledge of KBS old field communities and KBS terrestrial experimental work, data collection, and on-site maintenance.
Undergraduate Students
India Hirschowitz (MSU '24)
Major: Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2022-2024; NatSci Research Scholar: 2024
Major: Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2022-2024; NatSci Research Scholar: 2024
Giovanni DePasquale (MSU '27)
Major: Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2023-
Research Interests: My research interests include examining the behavior of different species, their unique characteristics, and their interactions with each other.
Major: Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2023-
Research Interests: My research interests include examining the behavior of different species, their unique characteristics, and their interactions with each other.
Caroline Roche (MSU '27)
Major: Environmental Biology/Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2023-
Research Interests: I am interested in studying animal behavior and how animals are affected by climate change.
Major: Environmental Biology/Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2023-
Research Interests: I am interested in studying animal behavior and how animals are affected by climate change.
Ava Fountain (MSU '27)
Major: Environmental Biology/Zoology.
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2024-
Research Interests: I love anything about plants and animals, but my main interest is in conservation, and learning about ways to preserve the environment.
Major: Environmental Biology/Zoology.
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2024-
Research Interests: I love anything about plants and animals, but my main interest is in conservation, and learning about ways to preserve the environment.
Maddie Andreatta (MSU '28)
Major: Environmental Studies and Sustainability
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2024-
Research Interests: I am interested in ecological and aquatic biodiversity and how a changing climate affects its ability to maintain itself.
Major: Environmental Studies and Sustainability
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2024-
Research Interests: I am interested in ecological and aquatic biodiversity and how a changing climate affects its ability to maintain itself.
Ann Joseph (MSU '28)
Major: Environmental Biology/Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2024-
Research Interests: Understanding how climate change affects biodiversity and how we as ecologists can help combat the negative effects.
Major: Environmental Biology/Zoology
Avian MetaNetwork Project; MSU Honors College Professorial Assistant 2024-
Research Interests: Understanding how climate change affects biodiversity and how we as ecologists can help combat the negative effects.
MSU SpaCE Lab Alumni
Honorary Lab Members
Pepper is Phoebe's lab/pointer mix (we think) and is fond of chasing anything that moves.
Roo is Moriah's playful cat who loves to take walks on his harness any chance he gets. When he's not getting the zoomies he likes to cuddle and keep close tabs on his human.
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Ande is a rescued vizsla mix who loves chasing his tail, howling at ambulance noises, and absolutely loathes cats
Millie is Kara’s rabbit who loves attention, running around the house, and eating snacks (especially pears and bananas).
Kenai was Phoebe's first dog, a chocolate lab rescue, originally from Logan, UT. He was a great companion on many field research trips during his 14 years. He loved swimming, snow, and hiking.
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