Current lab members, potential new members, former lab members, visitors and a few lab pics
Current members
Professor Jane Catford (she/her), Research group leader
Jane leads the Ecological Change research group. She is a Professor of Ecological Change in the Department of Geography at KCL, Senior Editor at Journal of Ecology and holds honorary positions at the Australian National University and University of Melbourne. She is a plant community ecologist with interests in biological invasions, environmental change and biodiversity. Email: jane.catford[at]kcl.ac.uk
Dr Josh Brian (he/him), Postdoc
Josh has interests in community ecology, symbiosis and invasion biology. Part of the AlienImpacts team, Josh is primarily focusing on enemy release and will use grassland experiments to tackle these and related questions. [Funding: ERC AlienInmpacts CoG]. Email: joshua.brian[at]kcl.ac.uk
Adam Glanville (he/him), PhD candidate
Adam is interested in understanding and managing invasive plant species to conserve and restore Australian native biodiversity. His PhD research explores how human-induced environmental changes affect the impacts of invasive plant species in grasslands. [Supervisors: Jane Catford, Ben Scheele, Josh Dorrough; Funding: AGRTP, JC’s ARC FT]. Email: adam.glanville[at]anu.edu.au.
Jaiden Johnston-Bates (he/him), PhD candidate
Jaiden is investigating how managed watering events (irrigation releases & environmental flows) influence patterns and processes of plant invasions and community shifts in riparian and floodplain habitats in dryland catchments of the Northern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. [Supervisors: Fran Sheldon, Jane Catford, Samantha Capon; Funding: APA]. Email: jaiden.johnston-bates[at]griffithuni.edu.au
Rudolf Mremi (he/him), PhD student
Rudolf is interested in the drivers and mechanisms of plant invasions and predicting their distributions & impacts on ecosystem functions. His PhD examines the permeability of invasive plants into protected areas and their impacts on ecosystem services in the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania. [Supervisors: Jane Catford, Kris Chan, Emma Tebbs; Funding: Commonwealth Scholarship, Rufford Foundation]. Email: rudolf.f.mremi[at]kcl.ac.uk
Amanda Narcizo (she/her), PhD student
Amanda’s research is focused on the role of exotic plant species in tropical forest restoration and specifically how exotic plants influence restoration success and how traits can affect species’ distributions under different climate change scenarios. [Supervisors: Renato Crouzeilles, Mariana Ferreira, Jane Catford; Funding: CAPES Foundation]. Email: amandanrcz[at]gmail.com
Dr María Ángeles Pérez-Navarro (she/her), Postdoc
María Ángeles is a terrestrial ecologist and biogeographer interested in understanding and predicting species distributions under global change. As part of her role in AlienImpacts, she is examining if, how and why native and alien plants differ in their demography and traits. [Funding: ERC AlienInmpacts CoG]. Email: maria_angeles.perez-navarro[at]kcl.ac.uk
Brittany Pugh (she/her), PhD student
Brittany is researching the scale-dependence of relationships between geodiversity and biodiversity, with a particular focus on tropical forests and underrepresented facets of biodiversity e.g. organism traits and phylogenies. [Supervisors: Mark Mulligan, Neil Brummitt, Jane Catford; Funding: NERC London DTP]. Email: brittany.pugh.22[at]ucl.ac.uk
Junru Shen (she/her), PhD student
Junru is researching the ecological impacts of hydroelectric dams in China and associated changes in river hydrology because of hydropeaking. [Supervisors: Jane Catford, Michael Chadwick]. Email: junru.shen[at]kcl.ac.uk
Dr Harry Shepherd (he/him), Postdoc
Harry is a community ecologist with interests in species coexistence, plant-soil feedbacks and environmental change. In his role in AlienImpacts, he is developing mechanistic models that predict the outcomes of invasion on plant community diversity [Funding: ERC AlienInmpacts CoG]. Email: harry.shepherd[at]kcl.ac.uk
Jonathan Sutton (he/him), PhD student
Jonathan is a theoretical ecologist building models of community dynamics responding to invasion, incorporating factors such as human-caused disturbance and evolutionary effects. [Supervisors: Jane Catford, Vincent Jansen; Funding: NERC London DTP] Email: jonathan.1.sutton[at]kcl.ac.uk
Stuart Viney (he/him), PhD student
Stuart is interested in restoration ecology, invasive species, and urban ecology. He is investigating the restoration outcomes of direct seeding and soil augmentation in temperate grasslands, with a specific focus on the influence of seed provenances. [Supervisors: Ben Scheele, Jane Catford, Richard Milner; Funding: AGRTP & ACT Government]. Email: stuart.viney[at]anu.edu.au
Billy (he/him), the lab lab
Billy focuses on finding balls, encouraging people to throw balls and fetching balls. [Supervisors: Jane Catford and anyone willing to throw a ball]. Email: none; please find him at the park
Potential new lab members
I welcome interested postdocs, and undergraduate and postgraduate students to contact me about potential research projects. I have a number of ideas regarding projects, but welcome – and encourage – other ideas. If interested, please email me with your CV and a brief statement of your interests, background and why you’d like to work with me.
For MPhil and PhD students: the best starting point for information (including eligibility and application dates) can be found here. Information about scholarships can be found here, though other sources are available elsewhere. If you have identified a project topic and potential funding source/s, please get in touch to discuss (jane.catford[at]anu.edu.au).
For postdocs: fellowship funding is available through the Australian Research Council (here and here), Marie Skłodowska-Curie, The Royal Society and NERC, but their are other avenues for postdoc funding, e.g. via named positions on standard research grants of which there are various sources. If you have identified a project topic and potential funding source/s, please get in touch to discuss (jane.catford[at]anu.edu.au).
Former lab members
Postdocs
Dr Lizzie Wandrag (she/her), Postdoc 2015-2019
Lizzie worked with Richard Duncan and me on our ARC Discovery Project that aimed to predict the causes and consequences of plant invasions.
Dr Joe Greet (he/him), Postdoc 2016-2019
Joe is a riparian plant ecologist. He worked on a project with Chris Walsh and me that aimed to quantify the interactive effects of flood regime restoration, native vegetation plantings, and removal of understorey vegetation in restoring a degraded wetland forest.
Dr Laura Graham (she/her), Postdoc 2019
Laura used her mathematical prowess to help me with a mechanistic niche model of plant invasion in grasslands.
Dr Annabel Smith (she/her), Postdoc 2015-2016
Annabel worked with me on a project examining trait-based interactions between invading plants and resident species in a Minnesotan prairie over a 20 year period.
Dr Nicki Munro (she/her), Postdoc 2013-2015
Nicki worked me on a project that aimed to develop and test a process-based model of invasion at the landscape scale.
PhD students
Dr Angela Bartlett (she/her), PhD (2019-2023), King’s College London
Angela researched the impact of rates of introduction, and introduction bias, on the richness and composition of alien plant species in Australia. [Supervisors: Jane Catford, Tim Blackburn; Funding: NERC London DTP]. Email: angela.bartlett[at]kcl.ac.uk
Dr Stefanie Kaupa (she/her), PhD (2019-2023), King’s College London
Stefanie researched the impacts of agricultural land abandonment & associated vegetation change on hydrology in the mountain environments of Nepal and Colombia. [Supervisors: Mark Mulligan, Jane Catford, Sampurno Bruijnzeel; Funding: NERC London DTP]. Email: stefanie.kaupa[at]kcl.ac.uk
Dr Abigail Mabey (she/her), PhD (2017-2022), University of Southampton
Abbie identified characteristics that enable species to become invasive across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, with a particular focus on seaweed. [Supervisors: Jane Catford, Marc Rius, Dan Smale; Funding: NERC SPITFIRE DTP]. Email: A.L.Mabey[at]soton.ac.uk
Dr Luis Moliner Cachazo (he/him), PhD (2020-2024), King’s College London
Luis examined freshwater diversity in the Okavango Delta (Botswana) using taxonomic and molecular techniques with a particular focus on macroinvertebrates. [Supervisors: Michael Chadwick, Jane Catford, Ben Price, Anson Mackay; Funding: NERC London DTP]. Email: luis.moliner_cachazo[at]kcl.ac.uk
Dr Harry Shepherd (he/him), PhD (2018-2022), University of Southampton
Harry examined the potential for plant-soil feedbacks to enhance ecosystem restoration, focusing on peatlands and grasslands. [Supervisors: Bjorn Robroek, Jane Catford, Marc Dumont; Funding: NERC SPITFIRE DTP]. Email: H.E.R.Shepherd[at]soton.ac.uk
Dr Sarah Fischer (she/her), PhD (2017-2022), University of Melbourne
Sarah used surveys and field experiments to understand drivers of growth and regeneration in riparian trees in the critically endangered floodplain forest of Yellingbo Nature Conservation Park. [Supervisors: Joe Greet, Chris Walsh, Jane Catford; Funding: University of Melbourne & ARC Linkage grant]. Email: fischers[at]student.unimelb.edu.au
Dr Andrew O’Reilly-Nugent (he/him), PhD (2015-2020), University of Canberra
Andrew used modern coexistence theory to understand species coexistence and invasion in grasslands using a series of greenhouse and field experiments. [Supervisors: Richard Duncan, Elizabeth Wandrag, Jane Catford; Funding: APA]. Email: Andrew.Oreillynugent[at]canberra.edu.au
Dr Estibaliz Palma (she/her), PhD (2013-2019), University of Melbourne
Esti used empirical and quantitative approaches to explore opportunities and limitations of the use of functional traits to understand plant invasions in SE Australia. [Supervisors: Jane Catford, Peter Vesk; Funding: University of Melbourne]. Email: estibaliz.palma[at]gmail.com
Dr Saras Windecker (she/her), PhD (2014-2019), University of Melbourne
Saras combined lab, field and quantitative research to examine relationships between plant traits and carbon storage in freshwater wetlands in SE Australia. [Supervisors: Peter Vesk, Jane Catford, Peter Macreadie; Funding: University of Melbourne]. Email: sm.windecker[at]unimelb.edu.au
Dr Decky Junaedi (he/him), PhD (2014-2018), University of Melbourne
Decky used field surveys, questionnaires and statistical modeling to examine traits and perceptions of invasive exotic plants that have spread from tropical botanic gardens in Indonesia. [Supervisors: Mark Burgman, Jane Catford, Mick McCarthyFunding: University of Melbourne]. Email: deqee82[at]gmail.com
Dr David Johnson (he/him), PhD (2013-2018), Australian National University
David used field surveys and experiments to increase understanding of ways to restore forbs in modified woodlands in SE Australia. [Supervisors: Phil Gibbons, Jane Catford, Don Driscoll; Funding: ACT Government]. Email: david.johnson[at]anu.edu.au
Dr Samantha Dawson (she/her), PhD (2013-2018), University of New South Wales
Sam’s PhD project focused on the impacts of flooding and agriculture on vegetation in the Macquarie Marshes, NSW, using field, experimental and quantitative approaches. [Supervisors: Richard Kingsford, Jane Catford, Peter Berney, David Keith; Funding: APA]. Email: samantha.k.dawson[at]gmail.com
Lab visitors (extended stay)
Léonie Hampton, Still Moving artist collective, UK – 2023 6-month artist in residence
Prof. Marc Cadotte, University of Toronto, Canada – 2023 spring sabbatical
David Gregory, King’s College London, UK – 2020 summer research student
Tom Mitchell, University of Southampton, UK – 2019 summer research student
Larisa Purcoi, King’s College London, UK – 2019 KURF summer research student
Andrew O’Reilly Nugent, University of Canberra, Australia – 2018 visiting PhD student
Dr Luis Mata, RMIT University, Australia – 2018 visiting research fellow
Saras Windecker, University of Melbourne, Australia – 2017 visiting PhD student
Dr Annabel Smith, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland – 2016 visiting research fellow
Mary Gardner, Washington University in St Louis, USA – 2013 summer research student
Esti Palma, University of Barcelona, Spain – 2010 6-month visiting postgraduate student
Michael Sammonds, NCCARF & University of Melbourne, Australia – 2009-2010 summer research student
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A few lab photos
Ecological Change 