Dr. Jennifer Baltzer
Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change
Contact Information
Email: jbaltzer (at) wlu.ca
Phone: 519-884-0710 ext.4188
Academic Background
PhD (2005) Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto
BScH (2000) Department of Biology, Acadia University
Biography
2007-11, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Mount Allison University
2005-07, Postdoctoral Fellow Center for Tropical Forest Science, Harvard University
Research Interests
Studies in my lab seek to understand the mechanistic bases of plant species distributions along environmental gradients. By understanding the morphological and physiological mechanisms by which plants respond to environmental change, we can better predict responses of these same species to future conditions. We focus on forest ecosystems including tropical, temperate and boreal forests as well as low arctic tundra. |
Dr. Nicola Day
Post Doctoral Fellow
Research Topic
Post-fire changes in soil fungal communities and patterns of forest regeneration in the Northwest Territories
Contact Information
email: nday(at)wlu.ca
website: nicolajday.weebly.com |
Ana Sniderhan
PhD candidate
Research Topic
Growth dynamics in subarctic forests across the Taiga Plains Ecoregion in the Northwest Territories. |
Sabine Dietz
Ph.D. Candidate (co-supervised, Dr. Kate Frego UNBSJ)
Research Topic
Geographic range size in artic/alpine plants in Eastern Canada and the conservation value of southern marginal populations. |
Cory Wallace
PhD Candidate
Research Topic
Cory’s research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms that control plant species distributions. More specifically, how plants respond to system components such as soil type, water and nutrient availability, neighbouring organisms, and microclimate and how these responses influence where and how plants grow. Cory’s thesis research is focusing on drivers of shrub distribution in tundra ecosystems. |
Katherine Standen
PhD candidate
Research Topic
Katherine’s research interests involve responses of plants to large scale disturbance. Specifically, Katherine is researching changes in plant community composition, structure and function in response to permafrost thaw in the boreal forest. |
Jason Paul
MSc Candidate
Research Topic
Jason is interested in understanding the importance of the ecological and geological drivers of near-surface ground ice in fine-grained permafrost soils. |
Katie Black 
MSc Candidate
Research Topic
Katie is interested in understanding the mechanisms that influence the expansion of shrub patches in tundra ecosystems. Her thesis work focuses on how moisture, topographic features, and nutrient availability control the growth and distribution of shrubs at Trail Valley Creek near Inuvik in the NWT. |
Alison White
MSc Candidate
Research Topic
Alison is interested in how understory plant communities reassemble after forest fires. Her thesis will focus on post-fire variation in vegetation assembly and regeneration in the Northwest Territories. |
Kirsten Reid
MSc Candidate
Research Topic
Kirsten spent the summer exploring the 2014 fire scars throughout the NWT. Her thesis work will focus on post-fire successional trajectories in high latitude boreal forests. |
Meagan Warkentin
MSc Candidate
Research Topic
Meagan loves working in northern boreal forests studying forest ecology. Her thesis work focuses on the rate and trajectory of forest succession following wildfire, particularly in terms of stand structural attributes and understory vegetation communities. |
Geneviève Degré-Timmons
Research Technician
Geneviève is part of the team working to understand the recovery of forests in the NWT post-fire. |
Jenna Rabley
BSc Thesis
Jenna spent last summer on the low arctic tundra and is asking questions about the distribution of N-fixing nodules at the landscape scale. |
Nathan Tuck
BSc Directed Studies
Nathan is working on stand age structure of subarctic boreal forests to better understand fire history |
