Jason Pither, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus email: jason [dot] pither <at> ubc [dot] ca 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 Center for Open Science: Ambassador Associate Editor: Global Ecology & Biogeography Associate Editor: Ecography Board of Advisors: New Phytologist We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded and ancestral territory of the Syilx people. |
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Current Graduate Students Andres Mancera Barreto (M.Sc.) (co-supervised with Dr. Chandra Moffat, AAFC Summerland) September 2023 - Evaluating the health of the oldest biocontrol programme in Canada. Jef Vreys (M.Sc.) (co-supervised with Dr. Darcy Henderson, ECCC) January 2023 - Establishing and implementing an ecosystem integrity monitoring protocol for endangered antelope brush habitats in the Okanagan valley, British Columbia. Sophia Kast (M.Sc.) September 2022 - Shared compatibility among alpine plants and encroaching coniferous trees towards ectomycorrhizal fungi taxa. María de la Paz Mañé Duarte (M.Sc.) September 2022 - A roadmap for predicting associations between ectomycorrhizal fungi and host plant species. Brontë Shelton (Ph.D) (co-supervised with Dr. Miranda Hart) September 2022 - The effects of grazing disturbance on the composition and function of soil microbial communities in British Columbia’s grasslands Dawn Machin (M.Sc.) September 2019 - Weaving Indigenous knowledge and wester science to understand the long-term history of salmon-bearing streams in the Okanagan Valley of B.C. Current Undergraduate Research Assistants: Natalie Woo (2024): Developing a reproducible protocol for monitoring antelope brush shrubs using drone imagery. Sakshi Adhvaryu (2024): Automating literature screening for systematic map protocols. |
Postdoctoral Associates
Dr. Fabio Mologni. Sept. 2022 - May 2024 (co-advised by Dr. Chandra Moffat, AAFC Summerland) A systematic map for assessing the cumulative impacts of invasive species on riparian and foreshore ecosystems in British Columbia. Personal website: https://fabiomologni.owlstown.net/ |
Former Postdocs, Graduate students, & Honours students
Dr. Amanda Liczner. BRAES Postdoctoral Fellow. Oct. 2020 - December 2021 (co-advised by Drs. Lael Parrott and Adam Ford) Synthesizing progress in and challenges to the measurement and conservation of ecological connectivity. Corrina Thomsen (Ph.D.) NSERC CGS-D and Killam Scholar, September 2018 - July 2024 Associations between host mycorrhizal type and plant community structure within forest ecosystems. Hannah Pilat (M.Sc.) January 2022 - June 2024 Predicting the distribution of the culturally significant food plant, skwenkwínem (western spring beauty, Claytonia lanceolata), in Skeetchestn territory Mac Repovs (M.Sc.) Sept. 2018 - Dec. 2020 Native bee diversity within urban gardens in Kelowna, B.C.. Where now: Consulting, Vancouver, BC. Bruno Carturan (Ph.D.) May 2014 - Nov. 2020 (co-advised with Dr. Lael Parrott) Exploring the relationship between functional diversity and resilience in coral reef communities with an agent-based model. Where now: Data Scientist with Pacific Salmon Foundation (psf.ca) Eamon Riordan-Short (undergrad) May 2019 - Dec. 2020 Opportunities to strengthen confidence in connectivity models. Where now: consulting in Alberta Faye Manning (M.Sc.) September 2017 - August 2019 An experimental assessment of potential freshwater diatom dispersal via waterfowl feathers. (Winner of "Best Presentation" award at CSEE 2019!) Where now: Field technician, Hakai Institute. Nick Tochor (undergrad) May 2018 - Dec. 2019 Dark diversity in freshwater diatom communities Shedding light on the understory within forest mycorrhizal research Where now: Lab technician UBC Vancouver Bethany Arndt (Honours) Sept. 2017 - April 2018. (co-advised with Dr. Adam Ford) The changing geography of plant resources for large herbivores in western Canada. Where now: FLNROD, Government of BC Carmen Chelick (M.Sc.) December 2018 Functional and phylogenetic diversity within the Okanagan basin, British Columbia. Where now: Founder of Biodigenous Consulting Ltd. in Kelowna, B.C.. 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" Taylor Weixl (Honours Ecology & Evolutionary Biology) April 2016 Thesis title: "Evaluating moderators of calibration model precision in diatom-based paleolimnological studies". 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. 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". Janice Brahney, (Postdoc) February 2015 - April 2015 Where now: Assistant Professor, Utah State University 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: Research Scientist (Vegetation ecology), 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 (Entomology/Biological Control), 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 Robert Guy 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: Senior Ecosystems Biologist (Penticton), BC Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship |
Former undergraduate research assistants & work study students
Jordan Katchen
Eamon Riordan-Short
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
Jordan Katchen
Eamon Riordan-Short
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