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Bried Lab
wetlands | odonates | insect conservation | applied plant ecology | community ecology
L to R: Nathan Solano, Rohini Vembar, Jason Bried, Matt Finzel, Aiden Garrett, Uriah Elliott
June 2023
Current Members
Ayla Skorupa, Postdoc, 2024-
Dr. Skorupa is a malacologist and statistical ecologist analyzing aquatic invertebrate vulnerabilities to Midwest climate change, supported by the USGS Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
Lisa Nicvert*, Postdoc, 2024-
Dr. Nicvert is a statistical ecologist working on the DRAGON project supported by the French Foundation for Biodiversity Research
*supervised by the DRAGON group (including Bried)
Weiqing Qu*, PEEC Ph.D. student, 2025-
Weiqing is assessing the resilience of wetland biodiversity to Midwest climate change, supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
*co-advised with Suneeti Jog
Emmy Medina-Espinoza*, PEEC Ph.D. student, 2024-
Emmy is investigating community structure and genetics of cockroaches in oceanic island and tropical forest contexts, supported by the Illinois Distinguished Fellowship program
*co-advised with Dominic Evangelista
Eden Rozing*, NRES Ph.D. student, 2024-
Eden is exploring social aspects of freshwater invertebrate conservation in the context of climate change, supported in part through our Midwest CASC project
*advised by Chloe Wardropper (w/ P.I. Bried)
Former Members
Aidan Garrett, M.S. 2025, Entomology
Aidan applied his field skills and pollinator interests to evaluate taxonomic surrogates for inferring endangered bumblebee occurrences, supported by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Matthew Finzel*, M.S. 2025, NRES
Matt leaned on his extensive botanical expertise to evaluate taxonomic surrogates in wetland floristic quality assessments, supported by the Illinois Department of Transportation. He went on to work for the Illinois Natural History Survey's Wetland Science Program.
*co-advised with Suneeti Jog
Rohini Vembar*, M.S. 2024, NRES
Rohini used her background in environmental management and consulting to develop new wetland assessment and prioritization tools for Illinois and the greater Midwest, supported by the Illinois Department of Transportation and USGS Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. She went on to work for an environmental consulting firm near Baltimore.
*co-advised with Suneeti Jog
Martin Jeanmougin*, Postdoc, 2018-19
Dr. Jeanmougin analyzed a large wetland biodiversity dataset for the University of Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. He is now at the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris and we continue to collaborate through the DRAGON project.
*co-supervised with Jan Ciborowski
Wade Boys*, M.S. 2019, Biological Sciences
Wade conducted extensive field surveys and niche modelling for two rare stream dragonflies endemic to the Ozark-Ouachita mountain region, supported by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. Wade became a PhD student studying the role of phenotypic plasticity in shaping species distributions.
*advised by Adam Siepielski (w/ P.I. Bried)
Tommi Fouts*, M.S. 2019, Natural Sciences
Tommi explored the wetland plant communities of Oklahoma, broadly asking whether floristic quality indicator species may exist for wetlands. Tommi became a Public Health Specialist for the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
*co-advised with Suneeti Jog
Undergraduates
Sydney Hatch, B.S. Natural Resources, 2025
Sydney analyzed the validity of old species-based indicators of prairie degradation (for NRES 295 Undergraduate Research) and presented at the Missouri Botanical Symposium.
Suhani Peramanu, B.S. Integrative Biology, 2023-24
Suhani collaborated on a pond metacommunity study (for IB 290 & 390 research experience) and presented at the University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Symposium. She also served as a summer research assistant on our insect projects.
Ella Huller, B.S. Integrative Biology, 2023-24
Ella collaborated on a pond metacommunity study (for IB 290 & IB 390 research experience) and presented a bumblebee analysis at the University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Uriah Elliott, B.S. Integrative Biology, 2023
Uriah helped develop a pond metacommunity study in the Summer Research Opportunities Program and presented her work at the Illinois Summer Research Symposium.
Nathan Solano, B.S. School of Engineering, 2023
Nathan helped with a conservatism-based nature preserve ranking for pollinators in the Summer Research Opportunities Program and presented his work at the Illinois Summer Research Symposium.
Stacey Murray, B.S. Environmental, Health and Safety Management, 2016-17
Stacey used an outdoor mesocosm experiment to study interactions of vegetation structure and dragonfly emergence. She presented for an undergrad research symposium at Northeastern State University.
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