Ehab Abouheif Evolutionary developmental biology: comparative and functional gene expression studies in ants and other insects are used to study the evolution of developmental regulatory genes and gene networks; the importance of ecological influences on development and evolution; and the relationship between molecular and morphological evolution.

Graham Bell has broad interests in ecology and evolutionary biology. His publications include about 80 technical articles, and books on "Selection: the Mechanism of Evolution" and "The Masterpiece of Nature: the Ecology and Genetics of Sex". He has developed Chlamydomonas as a model system for experimental evolution, and has recently begun working with Pseudomonas. He also participates in a field research program on biodiversity, and is engaged in theoretical approaches to long-term adaptation and community structure using individual-based models and auto-adaptive genetic systems. He has received many invitations to address international meetings, most recently as plenary speaker in the symposium to honour the 40th anniversary of the Meselson-Stahl experiment (Chicago), the International Symposium on Clonal Plants (Vienna) and the British Ecological Society Special Symposium on ecological genetics (London). He was appointed Molson Professor of Genetics in 1992, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1995, and James McGill Professor in 2000.

Gregor Fussmann uses planktonic model organisms to study the dynamics of populations and communities. He combines theoretical and empirical approaches to understand the changes in abundance that arise by the interaction of organisms and their resources. Even in very simple natural communities it may be impossible to fully understand all interacting components and the consequences of these interactions. Therefore, his research aims at identifying the key factors that determine population dynamics in laboratory model communities. Currently he is working on the interplay of ecological and rapid evolutionary dynamics, the dynamics of genetically diverse populations and on competitive dynamics in fluctuating environments.

Andrew Gonzalez Andy Gonzalez's research is currently focused on the causes and consequences of extinction in ecological landscapes. His approach blends theory with experiment, both in lab and the field. The LE3 facility will allow him to study the evolution, maintenance and loss of biodiversity in metacommunities in the presence of environmental change. This work will strongly complement his field research on the effects of habitat destruction and fragmentation, and will ultimately enhance his theoretical work on the dynamics of complex ecological systems. He was recently awarded a Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity.

Fredéric Guichard Fredéric  Guichard is a theoretical ecologist interested in the dynamics of spatially subdivided communities. For example, his recent work revealed how localized wave disturbances can explain the maintenance of large-scale spatial heterogeneity in rocky intertidal communities. His current research also includes theories for the evolution and maintenance of species diversity in dynamic landscapes, and of the role of pattern formation mechanisms in regulating community level response to environmental heterogeneity. These theories are developed using mathematical and spatially explicit models requiring intensive and parallel computer simulations. They are also tested in temperate and subarctic coastal ecosystems through field experiments and remote sensing surveys. The potential for localized interactions between individuals (e.g. competition, facilitation, dispersal) to regulate ensembles of subdivided communities is the main theme of his research, and is directly applied toward the development of reserve design theories.

Irene Gregory-Eaves is an aquatic ecologist and paleolimnologist whose primary interest is in tracking trajectories of natural and human-induced changes in freshwater systems. Her key contributions have been in developing and applying a paleolimnological approach to reconstruct past sockeye salmon population dynamics. Her work has shown that sockeye salmon population sizes have been highly dynamic over the past 2,200 years - much before the start of the commercial fishery. She is currently expanding this work by developing salmon records back through the Holocene (past 10,000 years) and studying the impact of spawned salmon carcasses on freshwater communities. Her lab is now also developing techniques to track the frequency and magnitude of past cyanobacterial blooms from sediment cores.

Andrew Hendry studies the interaction between ecological and evolutionary processes that influence the origin and maintenance of biological diversity. His work integrates novel theoretical models and innovative field experiments. Most relevant to the present application is his work on how natural selection promotes the adaptive radiation and reproductive isolation of populations in different ecological environments. He was the first to demonstrate that partial reproductive isolation can evolve in nature over less than 100 generations. His lab will contribute to research and training in the use of theoretical models and field experiments for investigating adaptive radiation and speciation.

Hans Larsson Vertebrate palaeontology and developmental evolution. Palaeontological work focuses on terrestrial Mesozoic vertebrates in the Canadian arctic and explores signatures of ancient climate shifts in palaeo-faunas. Developmental evolution work addresses what developmental mechanisms (morphological and molecular) are responsible for changes in the evolution of vertebrate morphology.

Martin J. Lechowicz is best known for his work on how phenological, morphological and physiological traits alone and in combination contribute to variation in fitness among individual plants. He was among the first to directly investigate how global climate change might select for changes in plant traits, especially with regard to disruption of phenological cues. As creator and Scientific Director of the McGill University Phytotron, he has established an international reputation in controlled environment technology. As Director of the Gault Nature Reserve and lead PI on the CFI-ECONET project (#1285), he is deeply involved in university efforts to strengthen our network of field stations and better connect them to on-campus research centres.

Michel Loreau My current research develops theory and modelling at the interface between community ecology, evolutionary ecology and ecosystem ecology, in interaction with experimental work on diversified systems, both terrestrial and aquatic, and in both the field and the laboratory. My main research themes in this area are the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and the ecology and evolution of species interactions and material cycles in ecosystems.

Brian McGill Macroecology: the study of ecological systems with many species and/or large spatial or temporal scales. Current major questions include study of species' geographic ranges, species abundance distributions (including neutral theory), and the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors in regulating abundance. Minor themes include paleoecology and evolutionary ecology. The study of large scale ecological questions has been recently enabled by new computer technologies for storing and analyzing large volumes of data, a field known as "ecoinformatics". Ecoinformatics plays a large role in my research.

Neil Price is an ecologist and oceanographer who investigates how Fe regulates phytoplankton productivity and the ways in which microbes adapt and compete for this limiting resource. His major contributions are in describing mechanistically the affect of Fe limitation on ecosystem function in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. His work has been instrumental in establishing the role of bacteria and phytoplankton in metal cycling in the sea and has discovered the first known constructive biological function for Cd. He brings to LE3 expertise in nutrient cycling, trace metal chemistry, and physiological adaptations. Research in his lab is now beginning to unravel the antagonistic and mutualistic interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria.

Anthony Ricciardi studies the causes and consequences of biological invasion. More specifically, his research examines why aquatic ecosystems vary in their resistance to being altered by invasion. Ricciardi has recently found evidence that an invader's impact on a system is determined by the system's evolutionary experience with similar species. He was among the first to demonstrate that an invader's impacts can be quantitatively predicted from its invasion history. His lab is currently using a combination of field experiments and modeling approaches to explore the effects of facilitative and antagonistic interactions between exotic species.