Principal Investigator:

Jason Pither, PhD
Associate Professor
Departments of Biology & Earth, Environment, and Geographic Sciences
Member of the Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services
Member of UBC's Biodiversity Research Centre
Co-lead of UBC's Fostering Open Science @ UBC team
University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus
email: jason [dot] pither <at> ubc [dot] ca

Current Graduate Students

Kayleigh Nielson (Ph.D.)  January 2019 - 
Co-supervised by Dr. Rose De Clerck-Floate (AAFC)
Biocontrol of spotted knapweed within a changing climate.

Corrina Thomsen (Ph.D.)  September 2018 - 
A biogeographic perspective on fungal range among ectomycorrhizal host plants.

Mac Repovs (M.Sc.)  September 2018 - 
The contribution of community gardens to pollinator diversity in urban ecosystems.

Bruno Carturan (Ph.D.)  May 2014 -
​(co-advised with Dr. Lael Parrott)
Relationship between diversity, connectivity, and resilience in coral reef communities.

Dawn Machin (M.Sc.)  September 2019 - 
TBD

Left to right: Kayleigh, Faye, Corrina, Bruno, Claire, Jason.
MIA: Mac, Eamon.

Honours Students

None presently

Undergraduate research assistants

Eamon Riordan-Short: Field Assistant for Mac & presently work-study student for the lab
Claire Thornton: Field Assistant for Kayleigh

Post-doctoral research associates

None presently

Former Post-docs

​Janice Brahney, February 2015 - April 2015 
Where now: Assistant Professor, Utah State University

Former Graduate Students

Faye Manning (M.Sc.)  September 2017 - August 2019
Are waterbirds effective vectors of freshwater diatoms? (Experiments with feathers!)

Carmen Chelick (M.Sc.) December 2018
Functional and phylogenetic diversity within the Okanagan basin, British Columbia.
Where now: Biologist, Ecoscape Environmental Consultants Ltd, Kelowna.

Brian Muselle (M.Sc.) (Co-advised with Dr. Howard Thistlewood, AAFC Summerland) April 2019
Agent-based models of the impending invasion of the apple maggot in the Okanagan Valley
Where now: Inspector at Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Brittany Altwasser (M.Sc) May 2017
Thesis title: "Deriving a qualitative, continental-scale model of the species richness of tree-associated ectomycorrhizal fungi in Canada and the USA"
Where now: Biology instructor at Okanagan College, Kelowna.

Roxanne Snook (M.Sc) (co-advisor) August 2015
Thesis title: "Modelling habitat for the Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel (Gonidea angulata) in Okanagan Lake, BC
Where now: Environmental consultant with Pearson Ecological Inc., lower mainland BC.

Liana Collette (M.Sc.)  August 2014.  
Thesis title: "An ecological assessment of Russian olive in western Canada: predicted distribution across its invaded range and insect associations in southern BC"
Where now: Research coordinator for Feedlot Health Management Services, Calgary AB

David Ensing (M.Sc.)  August 2013.
Thesis title: "The influence of grazing on within-community taxonomic and phylogenetic heterogeneity in alpine meadow plant communities"
Where now: Biologist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland BC.

Chandra Moffat (M.Sc.)  August 2012.
Thesis title: "Cryptic host-associated and frequency-dependent patterns of host species selection of a candidate weed biocontrol agent in its native range"
Where now: Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland, BC

Elaine Bambrick (M.Sc.)  April 2013.
Thesis title: "Stochastic and deterministic assembly within forest plant communities of British Columbia"
Where now: Forest practitioner, Mackenzie, BC.  BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources Operations.

Laura Super (M.Sc.)  May 2011.
Thesis title: "The influence of landscape-scale spatial environmental structure on the predictability of local community composition"
Where now: Ph.D. student with Suzanne Simard at UBC Forestry

Josephine Symonds (M.Sc.)  April 2011.
Thesis title: "Patterns and ecological consequences of exotic plant invasion in Canada's endangered antelope-brush ecosystem"
Where now: Ecosystems Biologist, Penticton BC, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources Operations

Former Honours Students
​

​Bethany Arndt​ - April 2018.  (co-advised with Dr. Adam Ford)
The changing geography of plant resources for large herbivores in western Canada.  Currently doing MSc at UBC's Vancouver campus with Dr. Nicholas Coops.

Taylor Weixl (Honours Ecology & Evolutionary Biology)  April 2016
Thesis title: "Evaluating moderators of calibration model precision in diatom-based paleolimnological studies".

Carmen Chelick (Honours Biology)  April 2015
Thesis title: "Getting the best bang for your conservation bucks: prioritizing wetlands for conservation in the Okanagan Valley, BC".

Grace Watts (Honours Biology, co-advised with Dr. Miranda Hart)  April 2015
Thesis title: "The occurrence and viability of fungal spores at depth within peat".

Brian Muselle (Honours Biology)  April 2014.
Thesis title: "A meta-analysis comparing the diversity of insect assemblages inhabiting plant communities with and without exotic plant species"

David Ensing (Honours Biology)  April 2011.
Thesis title: "The potential for invasion and biological control of Pilosella caespitosa and Pilosella glomerata" 
​

Former undergraduate research assistants & work study students

Nicholas Tochor
Emma Corbett
Grace Watts
Emma Walker
Mayling Fennell
Jeanne Langlois-Mongeau
Colin Scherer
Mark Lam
Peter Lomas
Katelyn Short
Sarah Degenhardt
Catherine Lund
Fawn Ross
Samantha Brett
Jamie MacEwen