Chapter Leadership
Chair
 |
|
Â
Binney received her BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Virginia, a Masters of Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (now the Yale School of the Environment), and a PhD in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University. She completed a teaching-centered post-doc at Middlebury College and has taught undergraduates at Kalamazoo College since 2001. Binney has been an ESA member since 2002, and served as the inaugural Vice Chair of the Great Lakes Chapter from 2020 – 2022.
Binney’s research involves studying the structure and dynamics of terrestrial plant communities. Specifically she asks questions about the origin and maintenance of diversity in shoreline communities, grasslands, and forests. She is currently working on a range-wide demographic study of the threatened Pitcher’s thistle (Cirsium pitcheri), endemic to Great Lakes dune systems. She also has an interest in applied conservation biology, and develops relationships with local natural resource agencies and non-profit conservation groups in order to match her expertise (and access to motivated students) with their research needs.
Binney has two children, one fledged, one almost fledged, and enjoys word games, jazz, knitting, drawing, and non-extreme outdoor activities like hiking and cross-country skiing.
Vice Chair
 |
|
Â
Sara received her BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Vermont (2013) and her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Toronto (2020). She completed a post-doc at the University of Toronto (2020-2021) with Dr. Nicholas Mandrak before beginning a post-doc with Dr. Daniel Simberloff at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.Â
Sara has been an ESA member since 2014 and has broad research interests in community ecology, invasion biology, data science, and biodiversity conservation. Her doctoral and some postdoctoral work has focused on examining patterns of biodiversity in the Great Lakes fish communities, the mechanisms that structure biodiversity, and developing tools to predict invasion success of non-native fish species. More recently, her postdoctoral work has focused on syntheses of invasion science literature.Â
In her spare time, Sara enjoys hiking, running, scent detection with her two dogs, and spending time with her family.
Secretary
 |
|
Â
Andrea has lived in and around the Great Lakes her whole life. After growing up in the Toronto area, Andrea earned a BSc in Biology at Queen’s University (Kingston, ON) and then headed to Michigan where she completed her PhD in Plant Community Ecology at Michigan State University in 1998. She then moved to Cleveland, OH where she was a part-time instructor in the Dept. of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences at Cleveland State University for 20 years. In Fall 2018, she became a full-time Lecturer in the Department. Â
Andrea has been an ESA member since 1992, and served as the inaugural Secretary of the Great Lakes Chapter from 2020 – 2024. Over the years, ESA membership has provided her with resources to assist with improving her teaching and opportunities to keep up with current research.
When not taking walks or trying as many different restaurants as possible with her husband, Andrea enjoys singing, reading, yoga, jigsaw puzzles knitting and a volunteer treasurer job. They have two children – one working as a computer engineer, the other in a non-degree post-secondary program. Â
ESA Council Representative
 |
|
Â
Lekeah is a Southwest- born import to the Midwest. She earned her BS in Biology (2011) from New Mexico State University-Las Cruces. Here she studied fungal endosymbionts in Locoweeds (Astragalus spp.) in the plant pathology lab of Dr. Rebecca Creamer. She continued working with fungal endophytes at Indiana University-Bloomington where she completed her PhD (2021) in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (EEB) under Dr. Keith Clay. Her graduate research focused on the ecology and evolution of the morning glory family (Convuvlulacea), specializing on Ipomea tricolor which maintains a unique defensive symbiosis with an obligate fungal endophyte. In addition to her research interests, Lekeah is active in community engagement, science communication, and participates in working groups that aim to improve diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in STEM.
She has been an ESA member since 2018, joining the Great Lakes Chapter during its inaugural year in 2020. Lekeah has served as the ESA Council Rep beginning in 2022 and is also a member of the Early Career and Black Ecology sections.
Lekeah enjoys cooking, gardening, and exploring natural areas. When not performing research she loves spending time with her family, walking her dog, and enjoys international travel.
Student Representative
 |
Â
 |
Â
Osmary received her BSc in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez (2016) and her MSc in Biology from John Carroll University (2020). She is currently a PhD candidate at Case Western Reserve University working with Dr. Karen Abbot. Osmary has been an ESA member since 2022, and joined the Great Lakes Chapter in 2023.Â
Osmary is interested in species response to climate change, thermal physiology, and conservation. Her master’s work focused on studying populations and thermal physiology of a declining tropical salamander. Her current doctoral work is focused on using butterfly physiological traits to predict their vulnerability to climate change.
In her spare time, Osmary enjoys latin dancing with her team in Cleveland, and spending time with her family (partner, dog, cat and tortoise).Â
Webmaster
 |
|
Â
Liane received her BSc in Biological Sciences from Elmhurst College, an MSc in Biological Sciences from DePaul University and a PhD in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution from Northern Illinois University.  She then completed a teaching/research postdoc with Mathew Leibold and Ellen Sims at the University of Chicago, after which she taught as a lecturer in Ecology and Evolution for the Biological Sciences division of the Undergraduate College. From 1999 through 2022 she was a professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. Liane has been an ESA member since 1988, and a member of the Great Lakes Chapter since 2020. She is also a member of the Aquatic Ecology and Natural History sections.
Liane’s research involves the model community of bacteria, protozoans, rotifers, mites, and dipteran larvae that lives in the vase-shaped, rainwater-filled leaves of the carnivorous pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea. She continues to study the interactions between members of the community, and is also studying the population genetics and adaptations of the pitcher plant rotifer Habrotrocha rosa.
When not hiking across bogs, Liane tutors biology online, occasionally teaches as an adjunct, and continues to prepare manuscripts based on numerous faculty-student collaborative research project that she guided at Saint Xavier University. She’s also working on converting her Natural History of the Great Lakes Region course into a book. When she’s not wearing her science hat, Liane enjoys gardening, playing cello, listening to classical music, especially opera, and reading. She lives with her husband and an undetermined number of fish in four aquariums.