Meet Dr. Celina Baines #meetascientistmonday

Dr Baines is a postdoctoral fellow in Prof Andrew Gonzalez's ( @bio_diverse) lab at @mcgillu. Her current research focuses on the movement of soil microarthropods & how their movement (dispersal) in metacommunities influences species diversity in the underground world!

Dr Baines's research is of interest to ecologists and evolutionary biologists alike. Her research program asks how individual variation in dispersal influences ecological and evolutionary dynamics in populations and communities, using lab, field & theoretical modeling approaches.

Understanding the impact of dispersal in metapopulations and metacommunities provides important insight for conservation issues such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, two human impacts that limit wildlife dispersal in a patchy world.

Dr Baines has worked with a number of invertebrate species to explore her interests in dispersal, including microarthropods (eg. mites, springtails), backswimmers, water striders, and more! You can read her guest blog on her work with backswimmers on the @CanEntomologist website!

Dr Baines's outstanding research has received recognition from many organizations, including the prestigious @CSEE_SCEE Diversity & Excellence in Doctoral Research Award, and a feature in Downtown Guelph's street light banner project highlighting Canadian #womeninSTEM!

In addition to her award-winning research, Dr. Baines is an active mentor in the EEB community and has put together an online resource, 'Careers in EEB', for BSc/MSc/PhD graduates in biology looking for academic or non-academic jobs. Check out the website: https://eebcareers.wordpress.com/ 

Dr Celina Baines received her BSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from @eebtoronto (2012), completed her MSc under the supervision of Prof Locke Rowe at @UofT (2014), and recently defended her PhD with Prof Shannon McCauley at @UTM @UTMBiology (2019).

You can find out more about Celina and her research at https://celinabaines.wordpress.com/