Scott H. Markwith, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Ph.D. University of Georgia
M.S. University of Georgia
B.A. University of Mary Washington
Research Interests
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Ecological Biogeography
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Terrestrial, Wetland, and Nearshore Environments
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Population and Community Level Processes
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Environmental Restoration
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Population and Conservation Genetics
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Vegetation Dynamics and Disturbance
As a biogeographer I study the processes, natural and anthropogenic, that shape the spatial patterns we see in wild populations, communities, and ecosystems. My interests span gradients from terrestrial to aquatic systems, with research experience in freshwater and estuarine wetland ecosystems, such as the Everglades, Kissimmee River, Indian River Lagoon, and Lake Worth Lagoon, the Pantanal of Brazil, in rivers of the southeastern Piedmont, upland forest and wetland systems of the Appalachian and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, and alpine zones in the Himalaya of Nepal.
Current Graduate Students
Rabindra Parajuli
Ph.D. student, Fall 2019 - Present
M.S. Tribhuvan University
B.S. Tribhuvan University
Rabindra is originally from the Nepal Himalayas. As a part of his MS dissertation, he assessed the nurse effect of shrubs in maintaining community plant species diversity and floristic composition in High-altitude Himalayas. Since his master’s, he is engaged in many researches, both nationally and internationally, in the areas of the plant (landscape, community and vegetation) ecology, soil microbial ecology, forest resource assessment, and sustainable resource management and conservation. For his doctoral dissertation, Rabindra aims to assess plant interactions’ response in high-elevation alpine mountains using temperature manipulations, and various gradients – both natural (elevation, precipitation) and anthropological (wildfire or grazing). He aims to produce a predictive model of how climate change and fire regime or grazing may alter species interaction patterns, modify species distribution and affect belowground microorganisms and above-ground plant species. One of the goals would be to disentangle how interactions shape community assembly and affect the plant diversity-productivity-stability relationships.
Brittny Aguiar
M.S. Student, Fall 2019 - Present
B.S. York College of Pennsylvania
Brittny has a degree in Biology from York College of Pennsylvania, with a focus in Sustainability and Environmental Science. She is a TA for the Department of Geosciences, and for her thesis research she plans to model habitat distributions for manatees in relation to future sea level rise.
Adam Kobylski
M.S. Student, Fall 2019 - Present
B.S. York College of Pennsylvania
Adam has a degree in Natural Resources Management where he focused on wildlife ecology. His research interests include studying the spatial and temporal effects of environmental and biogeographical factors after disturbance or anthropogenic influences. He is am a native to South Florida, where he has interned with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the South Florida Water Management District. He is currently a teaching assistant in the Geosciences Department, and conducting research on the effects of estuarine restoration on fish community composition and diversity.
Asha Paudel
Ph.D. student, Summer 2017 - Present
M.S. Tribhuvan University
B.S. Tribhuvan University
Asha is a native of Nepal, where she studied botany at the undergraduate and master's levels. Her work has focused on plants of the Himalayas, ethnobotany, and human-environment interactions. Asha's master's thesis focused on human induced changes to fire regimes and vegetation communities in the sub-alpine shrub zone. Her dissertation research is funded by the Joint Fire Science Program and is being conducted in frequently reburned mixed conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada range in collaboration with the USFS Sierra/Cascade Province Ecology Program, Pacific Southwest Research Center, and Plumas and Lassen National Forests.
Danielle Romais
Ph.D. student, Fall 2012 - Present
M.S. Florida Atlantic University
Danielle is a T.A. in the Department of Geosciences. Her dissertation will examine the invasion ecology of fire ants in Central Florida, and their influence on populations of the endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow.
Mason Smith
Ph.D. student, Spring 2017 - Present
M.S. University of North Florida
B.S. University of Central Florida
Mason works full-time for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as a biological scientist with the Division of Marine Fisheries Management. His dissertation is inspired by his fisheries policy and management work with FWC and will focus on developing a food web ecosystem model for the fishery in Florida Bay in Everglades National park.
Mason was awarded a ForEverglades Scholarship of $8,000 in 2017 by the Everglades Foundation in support of his dissertation.
Olena Leskova
M.S. Student, Summer 2018 - Present
Specialist Degree Khmelnytskyi National University
B.S. Khmelnytskyi National University
Olena is a native of Ukraine, where she studied ecology at the undergraduate level and ecology and environmental protection for a specialist degree. Her interests concern the effects of power production on the environment.
Lab Alumni
Rachael Greller
M.S. student, Spring 2017 - Spring 2019
B.S. University of West Florida
Alana Edwards
M.S. Geosciences, FAU, Spring 2018
M.S. Florida Atlantic University
B.A. Florida Atlantic University
Dean Monette
Ph.D. student, Fall 2009 - Fall 2014
M.S. Florida Atlantic University
B.S. Florida Atlantic University
Stevee Norman
M.S. Environmental Sciences, FAU, Spring 2013
B.S. Florida Atlantic University
Garren Mezza
M.S. Environmental Sciences, FAU, Fall 2012
B.S. Florida State University