People

Chelsea is an ecologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Akron (UA) researching the shifting dynamics of plant-insect interactions under global change. She received her Ph.D from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2020). She also holds an M.S. in Statistics from UT, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Central Arkansas. Chelsea served as a postdoc in the Forest Entomology Lab at the University of Georgia and was an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow under Dr. Katie Stuble at The Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio. She started at UA in 2023, where she leads a vibrant research group with diverse interests, and teach courses in Global Change Biology, Ecology, and Entomology. 

Stephanie is a Ph.D candidate researching pollination ecology in understudied native mustards, as well as the potential for mutualism disruption by invasive garlic mustard, in forests of northeast Ohio. She also focuses on mechanisms for mistaken oviposition on garlic mustard by the imperiled native West Virginia white butterfly (Pieris virginiensis). Stephanie received her B.S. in Biology from Ohio University and worked as an AmeriCorps Intern at the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio before coming to UA.

Katelyn is a Ph.D student studying the effects of climate change and urbanization on the phenology of ant mating flight windows and on ant overwintering dynamics under experimental soil warming in northeast Ohio. Katelyn graduated with her B.S. in Biology from the University of Akron in Spring 2025.

Louis is a M.S. student studying the potential for vegetation colonization of exposed sediments following the ongoing removal of the Edison Dam in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is interested in understanding whether common Ohio invasive weeds such as Phragmites australis will fare better in these novel habitats than native early-successional plants such as Virginia wild rye (Elymus virginicus) and rice cut grass (Leersia oryzoides).

Justin is a Ph.D student focused on understanding how climate change and urbanization influence overwintering dynamics, behavior, and gene expression in the acorn ants (Temnothorax curvispinosus). His work integrates transcriptomic analyses with experimental and comparative approaches to examine differences between urban and rural environments, as well as the role of colony origin in shaping physiological and behavioral responses to winter stress. Justin earned his B.S. in Biology from Lake Erie College and his M.A. in Environmental Science from Kent State University.