People

Professor of Plant and Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology

This is me. I am particularly interested in understanding the inter-relationships between biology and the flows of energy and nutrients in terrestrial habitats. More information on my research interests is available on my Research page, and on a link in the departmental website.  

My goal as a teacher is to facilitate active, engaged, critical thinking that helps undergraduate students in their developmental transition from being dependent to independent learners. Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigeneity, and Sustainability:  Black lives matter, treating women with dignity matters, Indigenous peoples' rights matter, a guaranteed basic income for all matters, polar bears matter, maple trees matter.... each and every life matters.  One of my central goals as a professor is to help educate and actively promote for fundamental (i.e. radical, second order) systemic change in how society is structured and functions so as to improve the lives of all minorities and the disadvantaged. Personal Land Acknowledgement.

Dominic joined the lab at the end of summer 2022 and completed an arctic-based M.Sc. in September 2024.  He was awarded a Queen's University McLaughlin Fellowship for 2022-2023.

"I am particularly fascinated by climate warming effects on tundra plant community dynamics. My research is focussed on using the long-term experimental greenhouse and nutrient addition plots at Daring Lake to investigate and differentiate the direct and indirect effects of summer warming on characteristic plants in mesic birch hummock tundra communities."

Thesis title: Understanding likely responses of a low Arctic mesic tundra plant community to anticipated climate warming using long-term, climatically realistic, soil nutrient enhancements.

Kira joined our lab as a graduate research assistant in July 2023, and formally started her M.Sc. in Sept 2023.  Prior to that, she had been our summer work experience program (SWEP) lab and field assistant in 2022, and helped Sarah Gordon with her research, as well as maintaining the Bracken Tract experiment, and assisting Paul out with lots of different tasks.

Provisional M.Sc. thesis title: Plant community structure and production in a temperate grassland: Which is the more important control – soil moisture or nutrients?

"I am interested in better understanding 'big picture' ecosystem and community-level responses of plants to environmental changes in threatened habitats. Specifically, my research involves manipulating primary environmental stressors like soil moisture, soil nutrient availability, and herbivory to examine changes in decadal long responses of plant production, composition, and recovery in an old field meadow grassland."

Kira was awarded a Queen's University Craigie Masters Fellowship for 2024-2025.

Dr. Esther Chang is a post-doc for May-July of 2024 who is assisting Paul with writing up a manuscript on pan-Arctic patterns of birch leaf N:P ratios, and their interpretation in the context of regional patterns of birch shrub growth limitation by the availability of N as compared to P or NP co-limitation.

Jenna is an honours thesis undergraduate student from August 2024-April 2025.

Her thesis title is 'Taking the Heat: Responses of the Widespread Low-Arctic Evergreen Shrub, Rhododendron Subarcticum, to Twenty-Years of Experimental Summer-Warming'

Tate was one of our summer work experience program (SWEP) lab and field assistants in 2024, and helped Kira Henders with her research, as well as maintaining the Bracken Tract experiment, and assisting Paul and Dominic with various tasks.   She has very kindly been continuing to help Kira Henders with her research over the Fall and Winter 2025 semesters on a volunteer basis. 

Terena was one of our summer work experience program (SWEP) lab and field assistants in 2024 associated with the Bracken Tract experiment, and has been continuing to help Kira Henders with her research over the Fall and Winter 2025 semesters. 

Terena is completing a Research Mentorship (BIOL 538) over the winter of 2025 which is supervised mainly by Kira with some overview from Paul.  

Her project title is: Impacts of Varying Water and Nutrient Conditions on Species Richness in a Grassland Plant Community: The Influence of Brome

Beth is completing a STEMIna project with Kira and Paul from Fall 2025-Winter 2025. The STEM Indigenous Academics (STEMInA) program is an academic support and community-building program for Indigenous students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) -based undergraduate degree programs at Queen’s University.  

Beth's project in our lab is entitled:  Dominance of Brome: Exploring its influence on soil moisture and leaf litter in relation to other plant species in an old field meadow grassland.