People
Dr. Chelsea N. Miller
I am an ecologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Akron (UA). I'm interested in understanding the shifting dynamics of plant-insect interactions under conditions of global change. I received my Ph.D in 2020 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. I also hold an M.S. in Statistics from UT, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Central Arkansas. I held postdoctoral positions in the Gandhi Forest Entomology Lab at the University of Georgia and was an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology under Dr. Katie Stuble at The Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio. In 2023, I started at UA, where I lead a vibrant research group with diverse research interests, and teach courses in Global Change Biology, Ecology, and Entomology, among others.
Stephanie Wilhelm
Stephanie is a Ph.D student researching pollination ecology for 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 Carrier
Katelyn is a M.S. student focused on understanding the effects of climate change and urbanization on overwintering ecology and behavior of acorn ants (Temnothorax curvispinosus) and other native understory ants in northeast Ohio. Katelyn graduated with her B.S. in Biology from the University of Akron in Spring 2025.
Louis Bou Samra
Louis is a M.S. student studying the potential for vegetation colonization of exposed sediments following the scheduled removal of the Edison Dam in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is interested in determining 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).