Life in the City is a collaborative blog launched in 2018 by Elizabeth Carlen, Lindsay Miles, and Kristin Winchell. We saw a need for a common place for researchers worldwide to share and discuss urban research. We envision this blog as a community effort and welcome contributors at all levels of expertise — we have undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and professors who all contribute to this community!
Our Editors:
Elizabeth Carlen is a National Science Foundation and Living Earth Collaborative postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis working with Dr. Jonathan Losos. She is co-advised by Dr. Chris Schell at the University of California, Berkeley. Her postdoctoral research focuses on the impacts of urbanization and environmental racism in Eastern Gray Squirrels. Previously, she worked on the effects of feral pigeons in the Northeastern Megacity. You can learn more about her and her research on her website.
Lindsay Miles is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the EvoEco lab (Marc Johnson’s lab) at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She is interested in urban evolution and ecology and is currently working with milkweed specialist insects in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). She has previously worked with the Western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) across is geographic range in the Western United States and found in her dissertation work, at Virginia Commonwealth University, that urbanization facilitates gene flow and can change patterns of gene expression between urban and non-urban spiders. You can learn more about her on her website.
Kristin Winchell is an Assistant Professor at New York University. Her research focuses on ecological and evolutionary consequences of urbanization on Anolis lizards. This group of tropical lizards has a remarkable ability to rapidly adapt to changes in the environment, and many species thrive in urban areas. Her lab researches urban evolutionary ecology across diverse taxa. You can learn more about her research on her website.
Kevin Avilés-Rodríguez is a postdoctoral researcher at Fordham University. His dissertation research focused on the interaction of global change drivers on the ecology and evolution of Anolis lizards. His research incorporates genomics, ecology, behavior, and morphology to understand how hurricanes, urbanization, invasive species, and more impact reptiles. His postdoctoral research is on the native and invasive species of freshwater turtles found in urban landscapes of Puerto Rico. You can learn more about his research on his website.
Hannah Gurholt is a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at Cornell University. Her research focuses on addressing the influence of disparities (socioeconomic status (SES) and environmental racism) on urban ecology.
Cesar is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley researching how heterogeneous landscapes influence wildlife behavior, health, and community dynamics. Check out his website for more information cesaroestien.com
Cleo is a University of Massachusetts Boston undergraduate student who started working with Kristin Winchell and Kevin Aviles Rodriguez in Dr. Liam Revell's lab, studying urban adaptation and evolution in Anolis. Cleo also works in the Herpetology Department at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and hopes to continue studying reptiles and amphibians in their future career.
Sophie Breitbart is a PhD student at University of Toronto Mississauga studying how urbanization influences evolution in common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), the host plant of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Her research aims to inform the construction of sustainable cities that also function as resilient ecosystems for flora and fauna.
This could be you too! We welcome guest and regular contributors from all levels of expertise. Contact Kristin to find out more about how you can contribute!
Aaron is a PhD student at Oregon State University in the Garden Ecology Lab, studying native pollinators, plants, and how we can improve urban habitat.
I'm a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University, where I model how urbanization alters animal migration and infectious disease. I'm broadly interested in how environmental change alters zoonoses. My work combines theory, data synthesis, ecoimmunology, and longitudinal field studies of bats and birds.
I am a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Ecology through the School of Natural Resources and Environment, at the University of Florida. I am part of the Flory Lab and am broadly interested in the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on wildlife and ecological communities.
My current research focuses on the impacts of urbanizaiton and invasive species on native species' behavior, distribution and evolution. I am fascinated by the interconnectedness of species in ecological communities and the complex, indirect, and cryptic impacts of different anthropogenic changes on these communities.
I am a post-doc at the university of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium. I study urban evolution in freshwater invertebrates and like to partition relative contributions of evolution/plasticity/evolution of plasticity to the phenotypic changes I observed for heat tolerance, life history, and physiology. Working on eco-evo dynamics and feedbacks too.
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Sophie Breitbart is a PhD student at University of Toronto Mississauga studying how urbanization influences evolution in common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), the host plant of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Her research aims to inform the construction of sustainable cities that also function as resilient ecosystems for flora and fauna.
I am a post-doc at Innsbruck University in the Applied Animal Ecology research group. I am specialized in urban ecology. More specifically, I study the effects of metal pollution and food availability on urban wildlife.
Matthew Combs is a PhD candidate at Fordham University studying the urban evolution and ecology of brown rats. He uses population genetic tools and modeling to understand the influence of urban landscapes on migration patterns of rats in cities.
I am a behavioural and evolutionary ecologist interested in the causes and consequences of individual variation. When I am not studying urban evolution, I mostly study animal dispersal, using land snails and spiders as model organisms.
I am an applied urban ecologist affiliated with the Urban Ecology Research Lab at UW. My research examines the ecological impact of how we develop and landscape urban land. I am also the co-founder of Research & Design for Integrated Ecology, a new nonprofit focused advancing this research and integrating with policy.
I'm a recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where I studied urban ecology and forest dynamics. I currently research urban wildlife in Chicago. I love cities and nature and nature in cities.
Cesar is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley researching how heterogeneous landscapes influence wildlife behavior, health, and community dynamics. Check out his website for more information cesaroestien.com
Cleo is a University of Massachusetts Boston undergraduate student who started working with Kristin Winchell and Kevin Aviles Rodriguez in Dr. Liam Revell's lab, studying urban adaptation and evolution in Anolis. Cleo also works in the Herpetology Department at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and hopes to continue studying reptiles and amphibians in their future career.
Eric Gangloff is an Assistant Professor of Zoology at Ohio Wesleyan University, where he teaches courses in anatomy, physiology, and herpetology. Gangloff’s research addresses the big question of how organisms will respond to this rapidly changing world. With a special focus on reptiles and amphibians, his work utilizes an integrative approach that combines field observations, controlled lab experiments, and molecular techniques to identify the mechanisms that allow – or limit – the success of individuals and populations.
My research focuses on the intersection of evolution, ecology, and behaviour. Broadly, I seek to understand how variation in selective pressures affects the origins and evolution of biological diversity. More specifically, I focus on adaptation and how it is affected by spatial and temporal variation in selection. Understanding such processes is critical in contemporary times due to humans having an unprecedented influence on the environment.
Hannah Gurholt is a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at Cornell University. Her research focuses on addressing the influence of disparities (socioeconomic status (SES) and environmental racism) on urban ecology.
I am broadly interested in the effects of toxins on animal behavior, life history, and evolution. My PhD research examined the impacts of common roadside pollutants on butterflies.
Google Scholar Profile
Sophie Labaude completed a PhD focused on manipulative parasites, followed by a post-doc on entomopathogenic nematodes. After working as a research engineer in genetics, she joined an NGO dedicated to the study and conservation of Caribbean wildlife.
I am completing my Master's Degree in Evolutionary Biology at Leiden University. I am specialized in Evolution and Genetics with a broad interest into different biological fields. I prefer to work interdisciplinary.
I am a Ph.D. student in the ecology and evolutionary biology department at Princeton University. I am in the contemporary evolution and genomics lab of Dr. Shane Campbell-Staton, where I study signatures of selection in American alligators exposed to pesticides.
Rebecca Panko is a Post Doctoral Research Associate in the Josephs Lab at the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. She is broadly interested in urban evolution and ecology, and studies plant evolution in urban environments. In her post doc work, she aims to quantify the relative contributions phenotypic plasticity, local adaptation, and epigenetics in shaping urban populations of the cosmopolitan weed, shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). She received her PhD at the Federated Department of Biological Sciences at Rutgers University - Newark and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where she was advised by Daniel E. Bunker. Her dissertation work examined local adaptation of shepherd's purse in the New York Metropolitan area.
I work on all sorts of things, but mostly wildlife ecology, evolution, and conservation in and around cities. Until summer 2019 I was at Providence College, but have started a new faculty position at the University of Richmond. Learn more about what we do in my lab at www.pcconservationlab.org
Postdoctoral fellow at University of Glasgow & University of the Basque Country
I'm an evolutionary ecologist, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms underlying life-history variation and how anthropogenic disturbances might influence these. I like birds
James is a PhD candidate with Marc Johnson and Rob Ness in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto. He uses the model system white clover to investigate how urban environments alter evolutionary processes, and whether these effects are consistent across cities (i.e., parallel).
Chris Schell is an urban ecologist whose research integrates evolutionary theory with ecological application to disentangle the processes accentuating human-carnivore conflict. Specifically, Chris’ interests lie in understanding the endocrine mechanisms that underpin carnivore behavior, as well as explicitly examining the anthropogenic drivers (i.e. human densities, roadways, pollution, interactions) that select for bold, habituated, and less fearful individuals in metropolitan areas. See more of his work and work in the Schell Lab here: (faculty.washington.edu/cjschell/wordpress).
I am a PhD student in Emilie Snell-Rood's lab at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior).
I am broadly interested in ecological and developmental factors influencing how organisms adapt to novel, rapidly changing environments.
My google scholar profile: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=SPJQO9kAAAAJ&hl=en
I study how aspects of global change, including urbanization and invasive species, impacts ecology and evolution. My current work focuses on how artificial light at night (ALAN) impacts Anolis lizards living in cities.
I am a research associate at the Department of General Zoology at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. My research investigates ecological and evolutionary processes from genes through species and ecosystems, to quantify global change effects on biodiversity, mutualistic interactions and the ecosystem service of pollination.
My main research topics fall within the field of Community and Evolutionary Ecology of Insects. They include insect biodiversity, evolutionary biology, plant-pollinator interactions, host-parasite interactions and pollination.
Princeton Vaughn is a PhD student at Princeton University working with Dr. Shane Campbell-Staton. He is interested in urban herpetology and plasticity.
I am a new Assistant Professor at Concordia University in Montreal, where I lead the Ziter Urban Landscape Ecology Lab. We work on ecosystem service provision and biodiversity conservation in urban landscapes. Check us out at: www.carlyziter.com
Lindsay Miles is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the EvoEco lab (Marc Johnson’s lab) at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She is interested in urban evolution and ecology and is currently working with milkweed specialist insects in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). She has previously worked with the Western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) across is geographic range in the Western United States and found in her dissertation work, at Virginia Commonwealth University, that urbanization facilitates gene flow and can change patterns of gene expression between urban and non-urban spiders. You can learn more about her on her website.
Kristin Winchell is an Assistant Professor at New York University. Her research focuses on ecological and evolutionary consequences of urbanization on Anolis lizards. This group of tropical lizards has a remarkable ability to rapidly adapt to changes in the environment, and many species thrive in urban areas. Her lab researches urban evolutionary ecology across diverse taxa. You can learn more about her research on her website.
