Bio

Urbanization is now a leading cause of biodiversity loss, and access to the limited biodiversity and its benefits that remain in cities is inequitably distributed among people. I am an MSc-PhD fast-track student in the CHANS and M2L2 Labs interested in understanding the hidden ways that human activities in cities may undermine nature and its benefits, so that we can change these relationships to make cities more biodiverse, sustainable, and equitable. In my dissertation, I’ll explore the ways that abundant food waste and turf grass lawns may undermine the diversity of birds in Vancouver, using observations, statistical and conceptual models, field experiments, and interviews. I hope that this research will help identify interventions (e.g., private yard meadows, changes to waste bin designs) that disproportionately amplify urban biodiversity. I’ll be working closely with the City of Vancouver to help shape and apply my research and its findings.

Featured Publications

McManus, L. C., D. L. Forrest, E. W. Tekwa, D. E. Schindler, M. A. Colton, M. M. Webster, T. E. Essington, S. R. Palumbi, P. J. Mumby, and M. L. Pinsky. 2021. Evolution and connectivity influence the persistence and recovery of coral reefs under climate change in the Caribbean, Southwest Pacific, and Coral Triangle. Global Change Biology 27:4307–4321. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15725

Colton, M. A., L. C. McManus, D. E. Schindler, P. J. Mumby, S. R. Palumbi, M. M. Webster, T. E. Essington, H. E. Fox, D. L. Forrest, S. R. Schill, F. J. Pollock, L. B. DeFilippo, E. W. Tekwa, T. E. Walsworth, and M. L. Pinsky. 2022. Coral conservation in a warming world must harness evolutionary adaptation. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6:1405–1407. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01854-4

Forrest, D. L., F. Muatiche, C. Riaco, M. K. Gonder, and D. T. Cronin. 2017. Primate Communities Along a Protected Area Border: A Two-site Comparison of Abundance and Hunting Response in Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. African Primates 12:23–36.