We are team of scientists with a wide range of skills and experience: from evolution and ecology to microbiology, biochemistry, and mathematics We love what we do, and we do it with passion.
Jonathan Davies
Professor
I explore how the evolutionary history of species—their phylogeny—can inform our understanding of their present day ecologies. I have tackled questions ranging from patterns of global extinction risk in plants and animals, the ecological and evolutionary processes structuring species coexistence, to global drivers of pathogen transmission and disease emergence. This research aims to bring new insights into the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape biodiversity patterns across scales.
Nick Bard
Ph.D. student
Cronk & Davies Labs
I am fascinated by how plant genomes and microbiomes change due to dispersal; and ecological, geographical, and stochastic factors. At the University of Colorado Denver, I completed a master’s thesis on the evolutionary genetics of the rare sedge taxon Carex scirpoidea subsp. convoluta. My PhD research focuses on the bacterial and fungal endosymbiont (endophyte) communities of plants. I am particularly interested in endophytic community assembly changes during the colonization and spread of non-native plant species.
Isidora Silva-Valderrama
Ph.D. student
Úrbez-Torres & Davies Labs
Microorganisms perform essential processes for all living organisms. They are responsible for improved plant performance and survival, but also for devastating epidemics. I am a biochemist from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, also spending some time at the University of Sydney, Australia. I have worked with fungal pathogens and endophytes for the last 7 years at BASF in Germany, and the University of California Davis in Chile, mainly focusing on grapevines as hosts. I am currently studying the Botryosphaeriaceae fungal family and their hosts to build a predictive model of host jumps that can be used for phytosanitary risk assessment, informing policy on pest management, and as a model for better understanding host shifts in microbes.
Avery Kruger
Ph.D. candidate
Davies Lab
I am broadly interested in how phylogeny can inform contemporary ecological patterns, like community membership and species interactions. I currently study the relationship between phylogeny and patterns of interactions in plant-mutualist networks, using theoretical models and empirical data. I also use machine learning methods to infer ecological and evolutionary parameters from phylogenetic data. Every post-secondary institution I’ve attended has had a full whale skeleton on display, which is a strange coincidence.
Marjolein (Marie) Toorians
Ph.D. candidate
Davies Lab
I am interested in the effect of biodiversity decline on the spread of diseases. With the increase of domesticated livestock and cultivated plants and decrease of wildlife, species composition and abundances in ecosystems have altered drastically. In my research I try to find out how the change of our ecosystems affects the spread of pathogens. My background is in Ecology and Mathematics and I work mainly with ODE models, like SIR, and Matrix Population Models.
See my fieldwork blog
Ross Stewart
Ph.D. candidate
African Centre for DNA Barcoding, University of Johannesburg & Davies Lab at UBC
In my PhD research, I’m using DNA barcoding on insects and exploring their interactions with plants over the 11 National Botanical Gardens in South Africa. I aim to understand better how important these plant-insect interactions are for our country. I am also interested in using machine learning (ML) to investigate some of the more challenging questions, such as determining the flowering patterns of all the plants found in the National Botanical Gardens, this will allow me to evaluate the plant-pollinator interactions at a national scale.
Ngaa Ndachena
Directed Studies and BUDR student
Davies Lab
Using camera trapping data, I am examining the effects of drought on ecological interactions among species in South Africa’s savanna, Kruger National Park. I am testing whether individual species shift in their daily activity cycles, and whether this leads to differences in overlap in activity cycles between species pairs. Understanding the effects of climate change, including extreme weather events, such as droughts, and the impact of management decisions, such as the introduction of artificial waterholes on wildlife activity cycles is important as it helps us better model changes in ecosystem structure and potential shifts in disease transmission. These data can then be used to inform management to help to restore a balanced ecosystem in the park.
Alaina Pfenning-Butterworth
Postdoc
Davies Lab
I am broadly interested in understanding the ecological and evolutionary factors that impact host-pathogen interactions, and how these factors scale to affect population and ecosystem-level disease dynamics. My research combines multi-disciplinary tools (e.g., phylogenetics, ecology, immunology, and parasitology) with computational models to understand host-pathogen associations and basic biological principles. Currently, I am investigating the causal pathways that drive interactions between climate, biodiversity, and infectious disease. I completed my PhD at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2022.
My website
Recent Alumni
Andy Gougherty
Postdoc
Davies Lab at UBC
My main research interests are in understanding the macroecology and biogeography of plants and their pests. In my current work, I am interested in quantifying the link between plant pest host and geographic ranges, the factors that cause plants pests to be particularly damaging to their hosts, and the causes and consequences of plant pest introductions. I am also interested in understanding the phylogenetic pattern of pest host plants, and the potential for pests to expand their host ranges during invasions. I completed my PhD from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in 2019.
See what Andy is working on now here
Ernest Ting-Yu Wu
M.Sc. 2020
Davies Lab at UBC
My curiosity with botany and ecology began when I first started to notice how some plant species are common and seem to grow everywhere, while others are very rare and require special conservation status. In my work, I explore how species life history determines patterns of rarity in mosses. My MSc research focused on the moss flora of Haida Gwaii, an island archipelago on the northwest coast of BC.
Lerato Hoveka
Ph.D. 2020
African Centre for DNA Barcoding, University of Johannesburg & Davies Lab at McGill
My research aims to develop climate change integrated strategies for conserving South Africa’s endemic flora. I assessed how climate change will impact the country’s endemic flora, and explored whether current protected areas will be sufficient for protecting the plant diversity in the future.
Max Farrell
Ph.D. 2018
Davies Lab at McGill
My research is driven by an interest in the local and global issues that stem from human-wildlife interactions. I hope to identify regions where parasite host-shifts are likely to occur to guide policy, surveillance, and development programs aimed at reducing the burden of infectious diseases in humans, wildlife, and domesticated animals.
Sofia Carvajal Endara
Ph.D. 2019
Hendry & Davies Lab at McGill
I am interested in the eco-evolutionary dynamics that are shaping the structure of communities. During my PhD, I examined effect of seed predation of Darwin’s finches on plant communities in the Galapagos Islands. I explored how evolutionary changes in a species trait can influence the ecological and evolutionary patterns of a community.
Undergraduate students
Edward Ssebuliba
Directed Studies 2020
Davies Lab at UBC
I examined pest and pathogen pressure on millet—one of the most common crops in Africa—to help predict threats from emerging and re-emerging plant pathogens, and the potential for future pathogen host shifts. Predicting risk of disease emergence in crops would have large socio-economic benefits to farmers, improve food security, and support more sustainable agricultural development.
Shelley Wang
Directed Studies 2021
Davies Lab
The PhyloEcology Lab 