Curriculum Vitae
Education
PhD. in Geography August 2025, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC
Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Williams
Dissertation title: “Effects of reproductive trade-offs, conspecific density, and invasive species on oak savanna wildflower populations under climate change”
B.A. in Environmental Analysis: Science Concentration with Honors, Pitzer College, Claremont CA (2018)
- Thesis title: “Preliminary examination of seed predator preference in California sage scrub: implications for ecological resistance” Now published here
Publications
(In review) Loesberg, J.A. & J.L. Williams. Conspecific density and reproductive trade-offs govern population response to climate in a clonal wildflower. Submitted to Journal of Ecology
Clark, J.; Siren, A.; Loesberg, J.; Morelli, T.L. (2025). SiMPL Wildlife Magnet: A camera trap tool for detecting all creatures great and small. Ecology and Evolution, 15(12), e72342. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72342
Williams, J. L., Angert, A. L., Compagnoni, A., Campbell, A., DeMarche, M. L., Evans, M. E. K., Fowler, J. C., González, E. J., Iler, A. M., Loesberg, J. A., Louthan, A. M., Martin, A. B., Moutouama, J. K., Nordstrom, S. W., Petry, W. K., Şen, B., Sheth, S. N., & Miller, T. E. X. (2025). Linking Climate and Demography to Predict Population Dynamics and Persistence Under Global Change. Ecology Letters, 28(12), e70283. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70283
Loesberg, J. A. & Williams, J. L. (2025). Seasonal climate drives population growth but not costs of reproduction of a perennial wildflower. Ecology, 106(12), e70240. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70240
Hesketh, A. V.*, Loesberg, J. A.*, Bledsoe, E. K., Karst, J., & Macdonald, S. E. (2022). Seasonal and annual dynamics of western Canadian boreal forest plant communities: A legacy data set spanning four decades. Ecology, 103(11), e3805. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3805 * indicates equal contribution
Loesberg, J. A., & Meyer, W. M. (2021). Granivory in California sage scrub: Implications for common plant invaders and ecosystem conservation. Plant Ecology, 222(10), 1089–1100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01163-z
Caspi, T., Hartz, L. A., Soto Villa, A. E., Loesberg, J. A., Robins, C. R., & Meyer, W. M. (2019). Impacts of invasive annuals on soil carbon and nitrogen storage in southern California depend on the identity of the invader. Ecology and Evolution, 9(8), 4980–4993. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5104
Certificates
Certificate in Data Management and Reproducible Research, Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution (2022) - Program consisted of technical skills courses, completion of a data rescue internship, and EDI and career trainings
Research Experience
BRITE Intern and Data Analyst. Environment and Climate Change Canada & Birds Canada. 2025-Current. Developing a trait-based fire vulnerability index for BC bird species and conducting spatial analysis of future wildfire risk and eBird distributions
Living Data Project Intern, Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution (CIEE): 2020-2021. Data rescue project archiving a 40-year data set for Alberta boreal forests. Learn more about this project here and here.
Graduate Research Assistant, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC: 2019 - 2025.
Field Technician, with Toni Lyn Morelli & Alexej Siren, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA: 2017
Research Technician, with Wallace Meyer III, Pomona College, Claremont CA: 2017-2018
Lab Assistant, with Diane Thomson, Keck Science Center, Claremont CA: 2017
Field Technician, Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge, Mora NM: 2016
Doris Duke Conservation Scholar, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ: 2016 - 2018
Lab Assistant, with Branwen Williams, Keck Science Center, Claremont CA: 2015 - 2018
’Imi i ka Lama Collegiate Intern, Endangered Wildlife Management Division, Haleakalā National Park, Maui HI: 2015
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant, Department of Geography, UBC, Vancouver BC (2019 – 2025)
Our Changing Environment: Climate and Ecosystems (GEOB102)
Introduction to Biogeography (GEOS 207)
Paleoecology: Lessons for the Anthropocene (GEOS 306)
Biogeography and Global Change (GEOS 307)
Vegetation Dynamics: Disturbance, Climate and Human Impacts (GEOS 407)
Teaching Assistant, Keck Science Center, Claremont CA (2016 - 2018)
Introductory Biology Lab (BIO44L)
Science and the Environment Lab (EA30L)
Mentoring
Erin McHugh – Field assistant; career and academic mentorship (2023) Currently: MSc student at University of Toronto
Bellie Zhu – Lab assistant; mentorship on summer fellowship project (effect of herbivory on annual forb fitness) (2023) Currently: MSc student at Columbia University
Ria Raut - Field and lab assistant; mentorship on summer fellowship project (effect of herbivory on annual forb fitness) (2022) Currently: PhD student at UC Berkeley
Lindsay Worden – Field assistant (2022) Currently: MSc student at University of Victoria
Piper Battersby – Field assistant; career and academic mentorship; mentorship on summer internship projects: creating a grass identification guide for the field site and estimating the effect of phenology on seed production (2021-2023)
Presentations
2024 Talk: Ecological Society of America, Long Beach, CA
2024 Talk: Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution, Vancouver BC
2023 Poster: Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team Meeting, Victoria, BC
2023 Talk: Biodiversity Research Centre Ecology and Evolution Retreat, Brakendale, BC
2023 Talk: Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR
2018 Poster: Keck Science Department Thesis Seminar, Claremont CA
Awards
Department of Geography Graduate Student Travel Award (UBC, 2024)
Graduate Student Travel Award (UBC, 2024)
Four Year Fellowship (UBC, 2021-2025)
Four Year Fellowship Tuition Award (UBC, 2021-2025)
President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award (UBC, 2020-2025)
International Student Tuition Award (UBC, 2019-2025)
Graduate Student Initiative Award (UBC, 2019-2021)
Americorps National Service Award (2015)
Pitzer Scholarship (Pitzer College, 2014-2018)
Working Groups
Linking climate & demography – Rice University, December 2023 - Reviewing and synthesizing methods to link climatic and demographic data, with a focus on scaling effects of climate to population dynamics
Discussion Groups
Organizer of Florum, a plant ecology discussion group at the Biodiversity Research Centre – Fall 2024 & Spring 2025
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