WORKING TOGETHER TO TACKLE INVASIVE SPECIES ISSUES IN A
Changing Southeast
Cayla Morningstar is the Research Coordinator for Southeast RISCC. She is an aquatic biologist specializing in the biogeography of mollusks, and has worked with snails and mussels across the U.S., extensively in the southeast. Her research focuses on invasive species risk, and has included horizon scanning and impact characterization. Before starting as the coordinator of Southeast RISCC, she was a member of the leadership team in her role as an aquatic invasive species biologist with the Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database in Gainesville, Florida. She received her bachelors degrees in Zoology and Philosophy from Miami University, and is currently pursuing her masters in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Florida.
You can reach out to Cayla directly for questions, collaborations, and anything you might need
Brett Scheffers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. Over the past 15 years, he has studied the ecology of species and habitats in tropical, temperate and boreal ecosystems.
Brett is interested in how species, both native and non-native, will expand their distributions under climate change. He wants to better understand how human values -that of species and nature – might shift with increasing invasions of non-native species and ecosystem shifts under climate change. Brett’s general interests include invasion science, the wildlife trade and exotic pet trade, trait-based ecology, multidimensional species distributions, community assembly/disassembly, ecophysiology, and landscape ecology. He uses these concepts to assess species and habitat vulnerability and resilience under novel climates and human disturbances.
Dr. Wesley M. Daniel is a supervisory fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Gainesville, FL. He is the coordinator for the Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database and supervises a diverse team of scientists. Wes is an aquatic landscape ecologist, and his research focuses on identifying and modeling the impacts and introduction pathways of invasive species. Before joining USGS, Wes worked as a post-doctoral research associate for Michigan State University. He led numerous national-focused conservation projects for freshwater fishes and mussels with the National Fish Habitat Partnership, Northeast Climate Science Center, and Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative. Wes received a M.S. in Biology from the University of Louisville and a Ph.D. in Biology from Louisiana State University.
Paul Evans is the Research Coordinator at the Invasion Science Institute (ISI) at the University of Florida. He works with affiliated partners and internal and external boards to create essential and innovative research. He studies terrestrial invasive species dispersion, community ecology, and community-based education and reporting. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and his MSc. in Ecology and Conservation from Aberdeen. He uses wildlife education, scientific research, and public involvement to fill conservation knowledge gaps. He previously collaborated with biologists to study herpetofauna and crocodilians in South Florida and the Caribbean, as well as endangered species in Central America. He additionally serves a leadership role with Florida Invasive Species Council (FISC), and Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Disease Task Team (PARC DTT).
Dr. Stacy Endriss is an affiliate of the Invasive Species Collaborative and an assistant professor of invasive species research and extension in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech. Overall, her lab takes an eco-evolutionary perspective towards understanding the impacts of introduced plants and of introduced plant management, especially in the context of species invasion and plant-insect interactions. Her lab is passionate about coproducing research with practitioners and local land managers on topics they themselves identify as high priorities, with the aim of continuing to work towards making management more effective and ethical overall.
Southeast RISCC is funded by the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC).
