Personnel | biogeographylab

Scott H. Markwith, Ph.D.

Professor

Ph.D. University of Georgia

M.S. University of Georgia

B.A. University of Mary Washington

Research Interests

Ecological Biogeography
Environmental Restoration
Sustainability and Conservation
Human-Wildlife Interactions
Vegetation Dynamics and Disturbance
Terrestrial, Wetland, and Nearshore Environments
Population, Community, Ecosystem, and Landscape Level Analyses
Statistical, Spatial, and Ecosystem Modeling

In my lab we study the processes, natural and anthropogenic, that interact and shape the spatial patterns we see in wild populations, communities, and ecosystems and how those patterns can feedback to influence management of human systems. 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 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. For his MS thesis, he assessed the nurse effect of Himalayan native Berberis shrubs on plant diversity, including medicinal herbs and high conservation value species, in the stressful environments of the Himalayas. His Ph.D. research is focused on forest ecosystems to investigate the benefits of dead wood for biodiversity conservation and as carbon stocks, influence on mega wildfires, and its management for wildfire risk and carbon emission reduction.

Heather Smith

Ph.D. student, Fall 2021 - Present

M.S. Florida Atlantic University

B.S. Millsaps College

Heather is developing an ecosystem model of Lake Okeechobee to measure the impacts of habitat restoration and climate change. She is interested in restoration ecology and human-environment interactions, and has conducted research on pesticide impacts on loggerhead sea turtles, wading bird prey availability, and mapped restoration projects and examined predator-prey interactions in the lower Mississippi River.

Kelly Spindler

M.S. student, Spring 2023 - Present
B.S. University of Florida

Kelly is interested in the interactions of changes in electrical power production and warm water discharges on manatee habitat and movement along with the coupled impacts of climate change on habitat suitability and use.

Jennie Paul

Ph.D. student, Fall 2023 - Present

M.S. Southeast Missouri State University

B.A. University of Jos

Research Interests

Ecological Biogeography
Environmental Education & Advocacy
Sustainability and Conservation
Human-Nature Interactions
Biostatistics

James Lange

M.S. student, Fall 2023 - Present
B.S. University of Florida

Jimmy is a botanist, plant ecologist, and arborist with over a decade of experience in South Florida ecosystems. His graduate research focuses on combined legacy impacts of melaleuca invasion and broadcast aerial herbicide treatments on vegetation communities of the northern Everglades. The majority of his research experience has focused on rare plants and their conservation. He serves on the Florida Invasive Species Council (FISC, formerly FLEPPC) Plant List Committee, and chairing the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (ECISMA) Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) Plant List Committee.

Mike McCallister

Ph.D. student, Summer 2023 - Present

M.S. University of North Florida

B.A. University of Miami

Mike is a marine biologist with 11 years of experience studying south Florida marine ecosystems. He is currently working as the Research Coordinator for the Fisheries Ecology and Conservation Lab at FAU’s HBOI campus with Dr. Matt Ajemian, and joins the Biogeography lab as a part time Ph.D. student. His research primary research focuses include movement ecology, habitat use, foraging ecology, and predator-prey interactions of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) and commercially and recreationally important teleost fishes. For his dissertation, Mike will be examining the spatio-temporal trends of shark depredation in Florida’s recreational fisheries, the factors influencing this human-wildlife conflict, and it’s management implications.