Curriculum Vitae
Education
PhD. in Geography expected August 2025, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC
Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Williams
Dissertation title: “Incorporating understudied factors in demographic responses to climate: Reproductive trade-offs, intraspecific density, and invasive species”
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. Seasonal climate drives population growth but not costs of reproduction of a perennial wildflower. Submitted to Ecology
(In Review) Clark, J.; Siren, A.; Loesberg, J.; Morelli, T.L. SiMPL Wildlife Magnet: A camera trap tool for detecting all creatures great and small. Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
Hesketh, A*.; Loesberg, J.*; Bledsoe, E.; Karst, J.; Macdonald, E. 2022. Seasonal and annual dynamics of western Canadian boreal forest plant communities: a legacy dataset spanning four decades. Ecology 103:11.
* indicates equal contribution
Loesberg, J.A. & W.M. Meyer. 2021. Granivory in California sage scrub: implications for plant invasions and ecosystem conservation. Plant Ecology 222: 1089-1100.
Caspi, T.; L.A. Hartz; A.E. Soto Villa; J.A. Loesberg; C.R. Robins; 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): 1-14.
Certificates
Certificate in Data Management and Reproducible Research, Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution (2022)
Research Experience
Living Data Project Intern, Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution (CIEE): 2020-2021. Learn more about this project here and here.
Graduate Research Assistant, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC: 2019 - Current
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 – Current)
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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