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Spasojevic Lab

People

Marko J. Spasojevic - Associate Professor

He/Him/His

Email: markos@ucr.edu

Educational Background:

Ph.D. 2010 University of California Irvine, Irvine CA. School of Biological Sciences.

Dissertation: “Species, trait, and phylogenetic associations in the alpine tundra: insights into the processes that affect community composition”.

Advisor: Dr. Katharine N. Suding

B.S. 2004 University of Washington, Seattle WA. Major: Biology (Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation)

A.S. 2002 Shoreline Community College, Seattle WA.

Research Interests:

Community assembly, Plant functional traits, Biogeography, Global change, Plant-Soil interactions, Plant hemiparasites.

CV Google Scholar Email

Lab Members

graduate students

Karina Cedra

She/Her/Hers

Email: kcerd005@ucr.edu

B.A. 2014, Autonomus University of Baja California, MX

M.Sc. 2018, Autonomus University of Baja California, MX

Research Interests:

Ecological Interactions, Community Ecology,
Biogeography, Population Dynamic

Sophie Crehan

She/Her/Hers

Email: screh001@ucr.edu

B.A. 2024 Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

Research Interests:

Temperate forest ecology, Plant functional traits, and Global change biology

Ariana Firebaugh Ornelas

She/Her/Hers

Email: afire001@ucr.edu

Co-advised with Loralee Larios

B.A. 2018, Whittier College, Whittier, CA

Research Interests:

Community Assembly, Coexistence, Plant Functional Traits, and Environmental Filtering

LabPhoto_AJ.heic

Joey Krieger-Lodge

They/Them

Email: aj.lodge@colorado.edu

B.A. 2018 Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

Research Interests:

Alpine Ecology, Community Ecology, Biogeography, and Global change biology

Tesa Madsen-Hepp

She/Her/Hers

Email: tmads004@ucr.edu

B.S. 2015, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO

M.S 2018, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

Research Interests:

Community Ecology, Arid Ecosystems, and Global Change Biology

field techs

Erin McCann

She/Her/Hers

Email: emcca006@ucr.edu

B.S. 2011, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

Research Interests:

Community Ecology, Species Distributions, and Global Change Biology

field techs

undergraduates

She/Her/Hers

Cynthia Franco-Gonzalez

Email: Cynthia.francogonzalez@email.ucr.edu

B.S. 2026, University of California, Riverside.

field techs

Tree Adam_edited.jpg

He/Him/His

Adam Huynh

Email: ahuyn106@ucr.edu

B.S. 2026, University of California, Riverside.

Research Interests:

Restoration Ecology, Global Change Biology, Pollinator and Plant Interactions

field techs

Jelena Katanic

Email: jelena.katanic@email.ucr.edu

She/Her/Hers

B.S. 2026, University of California, Riverside.

Research Interests:

Ecology, Microbiology, and Global Change

Christopher Stoddard

Email: cstoddard3@student.rccd.edu

He/Him/His

B.S. 2026, Riverside Community College

Research Interests:

Conservation Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Herpetology, and Ornithology

Technicians

Genesis Hutchinson

Email: ghutc005@ucr.edu

She/Her/Hers

B.S. 2024, University of California, Riverside.

Research Interests:

Ecological Medicine, Global Change Biology, Restoration Ecology, Environmental Justice, Biodiversity Conservation, Sustainability

Alumni

Jonas Menzie (Intern, 2024) Undergraduate Student UC Riverside

Ruby Raheja (Intern, 2024) Undergraduate Student UC Davis

Nahir Santiago-Colon (Intern, 2024) Undergraduate Student Mt. San Jacinto College

Miles Wentworth (Intern, 2024) Undergraduate Student UC Davis

Mikayla Martinez (Undergraduate, 2020-2024)

Sisimac Duchicela (Postdoc, 2022-2024), Assistant Professor at CU-Boulder

Magda Argueta Guzman (PhD, 2019-2024), Postdoc at UC-Merced

Caryn Iwanaga (Undergraduate, 2020-2023, Lab manager, 2023-2024), Grad Student University of Oregon

Jared Huxley (PhD, 2017-2023), Program Evaluator, Office of the Secretary, Department of Interior

Jon Henn (Postdoc, 2021-2023), Assistant Professor at University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne

Advyth Ramachandran (Undergraduate, 2020-2023), Grad Student CU-Boulder

Sena Sardi (Undergraduate, Field Tech,2020-2022)

Kristen Prattipati (Undergraduate, 2020-2022)
Melissa Salguero (Undergraduate, 2020-2021)
Michel Au (Undergraduate, 2019-2021)
Dani Logan (Undergraduate, 2019-2020)

Hina Varachhia (Undergraduate 2018-2019)
Lisa Schauer (Lab Manager, Technician 2018-2019)
Shane McFaul (Technician 2018-2019)
Martin Arceo (Undergraduate 2016-2017)
Soren Weber (Lab Manager 2016-2018), Post Doc at Oak Ridge National Lab

Our Projects

Pinyon Flats

rainfall manipulation experiment

San Jacinto Forest

dynamics plot

Western Forests

range shifts

Niwot LTER

mass ratio and niche complementarity effects

Deep Canyon

vegetation responses climate change

aj_projectphoto.HEIC

Niwot LTER

plant community assembly variation across spatial scales

Niwot LTER

plant functional trait manipulation in high alpine systems

Tropical Alpine

elevational range shifts in tropical alpine ecosystems

Partners

UC Natural Reserve System

LTER NETWORK

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