We work on community ecology and ecosystem function in a range of systems.

Carmen Laidlaw
PhD candidate
Carmen completed her Bachelor of Environmental Science and Honours in ecology at UNE. After working as an aquatic ecologist in Far North Queensland and also a research assistant at the Australian Botanic Gardens Mount Annan, Carmen is now completing her PhD as part of the Dynamic Lagoons team. Her research explores spatial and temporal differences across ephemeral wetlands and she is also working on applying dark diversity theory to ephemeral wetlands.

Peter Pemberton
PhD candidate
Peter is working on threatened plant species on granite country around Torrington NSW.

Abby Davis
PhD candidate (with Rader Lab)
I received a B.S. in Entomology with distinction in research and a minor in fungal biology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. At Cornell, I completed an honours project on the potential for Eristalis (Diptera: Syrphidae) flower flies to vector fecal-orally transmitted bee parasites. At UNE, I am researching the efficiency of fly pollinators in Australian horticultural crops.
General interests: Insect pollinators, pollinator health, disease ecology and fungal biology
Twitter: @notsocrabbyabby

Karen Santos
PhD candidate (with Rader Lab)
I am very interested in understanding plant-pollinator interactions. As a PhD student at UNE, my research aims to understand pollen flow patterns, heterospecific pollen deposition and the implications for crop systems.
Twitter: @cristinekaren