Clare lab 2026: Mel, Beth, Gliselle, Nina, Alejandro, Kat, Phil
PI: Prof. Elizabeth L. Clare
My research considers biodiversity at all levels from individuals to ecosystems. I employ novel genetic techniques to measure the connections between species and trophic levels among frugivores, insectivores, parasites and pollinators. In my lab we are particularly interested in the effect of landscape on ecological interactions and we are always looking for novel ways to use genetic technologies to answer these questions. From sequencing DNA in the middle of a jungle, to tracing eDNA in the gut of a leech or a dung beetle to identify local mammals to discovering we can suck eDNA out of the air we are always creative in our approaches. I love field work and have taught field courses in the Nagev desert, the South African Savannah and a Costa Rican Rain Forest. I have worked in many countries but have spent most of my field trips in Costa Rica, Belize, Texas and Ontario. My lab members work around the world. I completed my PhD at the University of Guelph, a post doctoral fellowship at Bristol University and Cardiff University in the UK and was a faculty member at Queen Mary University of London for 8 years before moving my lab back to York University in 2021.
Lab Manager Melissa Mac Leod-Bigley
I am an expert in eDNA laboratory methods and have been working in the eDNA industry. In the Clare Lab I'll be working on projects related to the BeeDNA project and general lab management. In particular I will be eager to use the MinIon platform for eDNA work.
Postdoc Dr. Phil Oelbaum
My research interest is to determine how animals interact with each other and their environment, how this influences niche occupancy, and the flexibility of diet in tropical bats. As a postdoc in the Clare Lab, I am learning molecular methods to document species interactions, with a focus on Ontario native pollinators. I am also working on building long-term research program on Jamaican bats and I continue to collaborate on existing projects in Costa Rica and Belize. I completed my PhD in the Welch Lab at University of Toronto and MSc in the Broders Lab at University of Waterloo.
PhD Candidate: Kat Lunn
I completed my MSc as member of the Clare Lab investigating the diet of migratory birds and the diversity of fungi associated with solitary bees. I then went on to manage health and safety in a COVID testing lab at Queen Mary University of London. In the fall of 2022 I rejoined the Clare lab for a PhD. My work examines the ecological interactions of native pollinators in Ontario and how their resource use varies over the season. I am also exploring the use of eDNA as a non-invasive tool to monitor solitary cavity nesting bees.
PhD Candidate Alejandro Biganzoli
Alejandro completed his BSc at the Universidad de Los Andes, Merida Venezuela supervised by Dr. Jesus Molinari. He completed his MSc at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil supervised by Dr. Andressa Paladini. He's particularly interested in the biogeography of bats. In the Clare lab he's quantifying the ecological predictors of microbial communities that live in bat fur.
PhD Candidate: Nina Garrett
For my PhD research I will be exploring the use of the airborne eDNA as a mechanisms for large scale biodiversity surveys with a particular focus on the spatial temporal dynamics of eDNA in air and the use of occupancy models to reduce estimate errors. In particular I am examining the ecological conditions that promote the use of spaces as bat roost using occupancy models designed for eDNA.
PhD Candidate: Gliselle Marin
For my PhD research I will be quantifying how traditional "fruit bats" use insect resources in the neotropics. I am a Belizian scientist. I complete my undergraduate at Purdue in the US and an MSc in New Zealand. I have been working for many years on conservation biology on Belize. My primary interest is in how dietary flexibility of bats may make them resistant to habitat disruption and how this may influence the conservation planning.
Previous Lab Members - Academic progeny!
Post Doctoral Fellows
- Dr. Joanne Littlefair
- Dr. Jens Nielson
- Dr. Daniel Marquina-Hernandez
- Dr. Mateus Pepinelli
- Dr. Orianne Tournayre
Technicians
- Andrew Sun
- Connor Sun
- Benny Krongold
- Joseph Trafford
- Dr. Rosie Drinkwater
- Frances Bennett
- Cat Dyer
- Andrew Vermy
- Patrick Artega
- Ghazal Hooshyar
- Mehdi Movahed
- Amandeep Gill
- Jayson Zayad
- Sanjayan Somasunderam
- Mehdi Movahed
PhD Students
- Dr. Alejandro Maeda Obregon
- Dr. Jane Hallum
- Dr. Omarr Khalilur Rahman
- Dr. Hernani Oliveira
- Dr. Rosie Drinkwater
- Dr. Tiago Teixeira
- Dr. David Hemprich-Bennett
- Dr. Aitor Arrizabalaga (visiting student)
- Dr. Valaria Salinas (visiting student)
MSc Students
- Nicole Borsato
- Nina Garrett
- Frances Bennett
- Katherine Lunn
- Sally Ivens
- Rowena Gordon
- Jake Cush
- Omar Khalilur Rahman
- Jashan Abraham
- Maddy Rhodes
- Leon Tucker
- Leah Taylor
- Alice Goodwin
BSc Students
- Ghazal Hooshyar
- Sargon Yousefian Dezag Tekkie
- Shai Lis
- Sebnem O'Hara
- Rachel Shaw
- Ceren Deniz Feliz Ozel Turkoglu
- Olly Gaskin
- Fatima Ahmad
- Arsenijs Jermakovs
- Clara DeSena Costa
- Bruno DeAraujo
- Alfie Gleeson
- Rebecca Mann
- Olivia Murrin
- Swastina Nathvarma
- Olivia Niblock
- Lucy Vialls
- Diviya Uthayakumar
- Rebecca Girton