Officers

The Canada Chapter adopted a new executive board in August 2022 to serve from 2022-2024. We are excited at the opportunities to work with our membership as we move forward.

Chair: James (JC) Cahill has been in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta since 1999. His research includes fundamental discovery as well as application and conservation. Recurring themes include plant interactions, ecological networks, plant behavioural ecology, plant-soil interactions, invasive species, and grassland and rangeland ecology.

Vice-chair: George Furey is a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Department at the University of Minnesota. George conducts his research in the grassland ecosystems of the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. His research focuses on tradeoffs in plant functional diversity and ecosystem nutrient cycling. His goal as an executive member of the Canadian chapter for this year is to increase engagement among early career researchers in the chapter. There is great potential for the Canadian chapter to act as a nexus of communication among ecologists researching in both Canada and the United States. As Vice-Chair, he hopes to build institutional memory within the chapter to foster networking and research collaboration. Any early-career researchers interested in building capacity within the chapter are encouraged to reach out via email.

Secretary: Emily Holden is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. She studies how plant social networks and resource gradients affect coexistence, and how we can use plant functional traits as a tool to learn about community assembly processes. Her research is field-based in central Alberta, Canada. As Secretary of the Canada Chapter, she hopes to foster collaboration among North American ecologists by sharing opportunities and information so we may network with and learn from one another.