Congratulations to two recent PhD's from Leroux Lab!
Hanski Prize
The journal Oecologia鈥檚 Hanski Prize is awarded to , from the Department of Biology, 糖心视频 University of Newfoundland, St. John鈥檚, Canada. Dr. Rizzuto completed his PhD degree as part of the Terrestrial Ecology Research Group in 2021. Dr. Rizzuto conducted this work while a student in laboratory and this work was also mentored by and . The Hanski Prize is awarded to the best student paper published in the journal Oecologia in 2021.
Dr. Rizzuto鈥檚 paper is entitled, 鈥淔orage stoichiometry predicts the home range size of a small terrestrial herbivore鈥 (Oecologia 197:327鈥338. ). This study used ecological stoichiometry and landscape ecology to demonstrate how food chemistry drives range size of snowshoe hares in boreal forests. The results support a wide use of ecological stoichiometry to reveal how animal space-use decisions are related to, and influence, the functioning and processes of an ecosystem.
Matteo is currently a Postdoctoral Associate in Lab at the Yale University School of the Environment.
The award announcement can be found here: https://www.springer.com/journal/442/updates/23340402
ESA Canada Chapter award
The Ecological Society of America鈥檚 Canada Chapter has awarded the inaugural Excellence in Canadian Ecology award to Anne McLeod, from the Department of Biology, 糖心视频 University of Newfoundland, St. John鈥檚, Canada. Dr. McLeod completed her PhD degree in 2020 and conducted this work while a student in laboratory. The Excellence in Canadian Ecology award recognizes the best recent student paper published in the Ecological Society of America鈥檚 journals.
Dr. McLeod鈥檚 paper is titled 鈥淚ncorporating abiotic controls on animal movements in metacommunities鈥 (Ecology 102:e03365. ). In this paper, Dr. McLeod integrates data synthesis and mathematical models to develop a framework to fill critical gaps in our basic understanding of organismal movement across landscapes and provide testable predictions for how these common natural phenomena impact landscape-level ecosystem function. This framework will help us better anticipate biodiversity responses to human disturbances.
Anne is currently an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow in Lab in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Canterbury.