List of EEE Scholars

Dr. Gabriela Garcia – Assistant Professor, Marine and Environmental Sciences and Public Policy at Northeastern University.

Dr. Garcia leads the Socio-ecological Systems Dynamics Lab. Her research examines how interactions between a system’s ecological and human dimensions influence ecosystem processes and human well-being in the context of global change. With a focus on smallholder agriculture, much of her work is positioned at the intersection of today’s biodiversity, food security, and climate crises. Her research group holds reciprocity and community engagement as core principles of their work. Dr. Garcia received her PhD in 2022 from Tufts University with support from an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, NSF Socio-environmental Synthesis Center Fellowship, and GEM Fellowship, among others. Before joining the faculty at Northeastern University, she was a Fulbright-García Robles Postdoctoral Scholar at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Dr. Garcia is also an award-winning mentor and community-builder for scholars with underrepresented identities.

Dr. Elvira D’Bastiani – Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles

Elvira is a quantitative ecologist focused on understanding the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of infectious diseases. She earned her B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Universidade Estadual do Paraná and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Ecology and Conservation from Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil. 

Her research integrates ecology, evolutionary history, network science, mathematical modeling, natural history, and empirical data to deepen our understanding of host-parasite and host-pathogen systems. 

Her current projects explore how spillover events shape the eco-evolutionary dynamics of host-pathogen interactions. Beyond her research, Elvira is dedicated to promoting inclusivity in ecological science through initiatives like the “Women in Ecology” project. Passionate about science and academia, she is dedicated to empowering women, challenging traditional structures, and fostering a more inclusive and equitable environment.

Dr. Camille Griffith – Assistant Professor, Oglala Lakota College

Camille is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation and a wildlife ecologist. She received her M.S. in Integrative Genomics from Black Hills State University and her Ph.D. in Wildlife Science from Purdue University. Her research integrates Lakota knowledge with Western science to address environmental and social challenges, focusing on Native American self-determination and empowering Native communities. At Oglala Lakota College, she manages the Natural History Collections, serves on research review boards and advocates for tribally owned, accessible data storage. She mentors students in ecological modeling for projects including Tinpsila (prairie turnip) conservation, reservation dog population monitoring and mapping culturally significant Reservation sites. Her research initiatives amplify Lakota voices in STEM through elevating community-driven, culturally relevant solutions to environmental challenges.

Dr. Estelí Jiménez-Soto – Assistant Professor, University of South Florida

Jiménez-Soto is a Mexican agroecologist with an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Cruz’s Environmental Studies program. Her research lies at the intersection of biodiversity conservation, agriculture and food sovereignty, and draws from a variety of disciplines and concepts including community ecology and political ecology. Much of her work takes place in Latin America, particularly in Chiapas, Mexico, where she studies insect communities and nature-human relationships in coffee plantations. She also works with community gardens in Tampa, Florida, to explore similar questions in urban settings. Through her work, she builds alliances among scholars, farmers, students and social movements to foster a more sustainable and just food system. Her goal is to be an inspiration for other women and minorities in ecology through her research, teaching and leadership roles at ESA.

Dr. Sara Bombaci – Assistant Professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University.

Her multidisciplinary research blends conservation science and social science to explore how ecological systems interact with social and environmental gradients in pursuit of innovative solutions to conserve biodiversity while meeting diverse human needs.  Her current research areas include acoustic ecology, urban ecology, community-centered conservation and human-wildlife interactions. Bombaci also has over a decade of experience conducting research, teaching and outreach to foster greater equity and inclusion in STEM. She received her master’s and PhD degrees at Colorado State University. She is a Latina Scientist, an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Ford Fellow, National Geographic Explorer and now an ESA Excellence in Ecology Scholar. 

Dr. Danielle Ignace – Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota

She is a member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe and an ecophysiologist studying the impacts of climate change, fire and introduced species on ecosystem health and Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada. As an advocate for underrepresented groups in science, she emphasizes Indigenous Knowledge and science communication in transdisciplinary projects. Always seeking ways to enhance diversity and inclusion, Ignace currently serves as an elected Officer for the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section of the Ecological Society of America and the Chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the American Society of Plant Biologists. She is an Associate Editor for the journal Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, which is a trans-disciplinary, open-access journal committed to the facilitation of collaborative, peer-reviewed research.

Dr. Aidee Guzman – postdoctoral researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

She recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California-Irvine. She received her PhD in 2021 from the Univ. of California – Berkeley. She is an agroecologist who is motivated by the question: in a changing climate, how do we design agricultural landscapes that work for both the environment and people? She studies how agricultural management impacts biotic interactions, below- and above-ground, and ecosystem functioning. Her research also includes collaborations with social scientists to examine the socio-political drivers and barriers inherent within agricultural systems. The overall goal of her research is to support farmers – especially those who are historically underserved – through research, education, and outreach that builds on their innovations and demonstrates ecological pathways to agricultural resilience.

Dr. Lynette Strickland– Assistant Professor at Boston University 

She is interested in understanding the ecological and genomic mechanisms that contribute to and promote the maintenance of variation in natural populations. The focus of her work is on insect communities investigating the ecological and genomic mechanisms underlying extensive color variation across geographic populations of Neotropical tortoise beetles. Her research explores how color functions as an adaptive phenotype and how insects use color as tools for communication both within a species, such as in mate choice and across species as predator defenses. While her fondness for beetles led to her current research program, it is her identity as a Black/Mexican woman and a first generation student from a low-income neighborhood in Texas that fostered her need to question the structures and systems that hinder, or actively deter, Black, Indigenous and other scientists of color from thriving in academic settings. She dedicates the same amount of time to outreach, and publications related to DEIJ in STEM issues, as she does to her research related to the ecology and evolution of beetles.

Dr. Karen Bailey – Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Bailey is an interdisciplinary ecologist interested in justice and equity in ecology, human-environment interactions, climate change, and sustainable rural livelihoods. She received her B.A. from Princeton University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Interdisciplinary Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, respectively. Her research emphasizes the interactions between social justice, conservation, sustainability and human well-being. Her current projects focus on climate adaptation and human well-being in southern and East Africa, human-wildlife coexistence, barriers to entry in natural resource fields and just and equitable approaches to climate change adaptation.

Dr. Aroloye Ofo Numbere – Lecturer/Researcher, University of Port Harcourt

Dr. Numbere obtained a B.Sc. in zoology from the University of Port Harcourt in 1996 and an M.Sc. in environmental management from the University of Science and Technology in Nigeria in 2006. He completed his Ph.D. in biology in 2014 at St. Louis University in Missouri. Numbere is a mangrove ecologist with more than 15 years of professional experience and since 2008 he has been a lecturer/researcher at the University of Port Harcourt, where he teaches ecology and environmental science courses. He studies the impact of urbanization, oil and gas exploration and invasive species on mangrove. He also studies seedling recruitment, agro-mangrove forestry, and DNA sequencing.

Dr. Bruno Soares – Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Toronto-Scarborough, Department of Biological Sciences

Soares is a Brazilian aquatic ecologist, currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto-Scarborough. He obtained his Ph.D in ecology in 2020 at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His research focuses on the processes structuring aquatic communities and food webs, primarily on processes related to natural and anthropogenic environmental filters. He investigates how different land uses affect biodiversity in the Amazon and how community structure is linked to food web structure to better predict the effects of anthropization in the functioning of ecosystems.

Dr. Nikki Traylor-Knowles – Associate Professor in Marine Biology and Ecology; University of Miami; Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Sciences

Traylor-Knowles leads the Cnidarian Immunity Laboratory, which investigates the mechanisms of immune function in corals. She received her B.S. and M.S. in cell and molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University, her PhD. in biology from Boston University, and did a NSF Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral fellowship at Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University. She is the founder and director of Black Women in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded to help combat the isolation and abuse in STEM against Black women. She is an advocate for Black women in science and academia and is determined to disrupt the system by creating a new narrative and structure.

Dr. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks – Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Health Sciences, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA.

Dr. Jelks obtained her Ph.D. in 2016 from Georgia State University. Dr. Jelks investigates urban watershed management; environmental health disparities; cumulative risk assessment; the impact of climate change on vulnerable populations; and the connection between urban watersheds, pollution, the built environment and health. She also develops, implements and evaluates community-based initiatives that set conditions to enable low-income and communities of color to empower themselves to restore urban watersheds and improve environmental quality, reduce exposure to environmental health hazards and enhance human health and quality of life.

Dr. Theresa Wei Ying Ong – Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies and Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.

She obtained her Ph.D. in 2017 from the University of Michigan and is an agroecologist who combines theory with empirical work in agricultural systems to understand how complex interactions between the environment, organisms and people influence food production and ecosystem stability. Dr. Ong uses techniques from complex systems and theoretical ecology to understand how sustainable agricultural systems and the ecological communities within them are maintained under social and environmental stress.

Dr. Adriana Lucia Romero-Olivares – Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Dr . Romero-Olivares obtained her Ph.D. in 2017 from the University of California, Irvine.  She is a soil microbiologist who works at the intersection of ecosystem ecology and evolution with an emphasis on fungi, and is interested in understanding how fungi respond and adapt to environmental stress, to better understand and plan for ecosystem-scale effects of global climate change.

Dr. Erika S. Zavaleta – Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2001 from Stanford University.

Zavaleta’s research focuses on global change ecology, conservation justice and addressing racial disparities in science. Her research tackles the effects of biodiversity and climate changes on ecological and sociocultural systems, and the effectiveness of conservation under rapid global changes and of programs that address racial disparities in science and conservation.