Rebecca Gooding

PhD Candidate

University of British Columbia

Beaty Biodiversity Centre, Rm 138

gooding at zoology.ubc.ca

Research

I study how human-generated environmental problems, such as climate change and invasive species, directly and indirectly influence community functioning. By applying well-studied ecological concepts to changing environmental conditions, I aim to gain a better understanding of the forces structuring ecological communities as well as how humans may alter those forces.  My current work focuses on how climate change will alter species interactions in the rocky intertidal.  I am using laboratory, field, and modeling approaches to study how simultaneous and climatically realistic changes to water temperature and pH will affect the interaction between the seastar, Pisaster ochraceus, and its mussel prey, Mytilus trossulus. This predator-prey interaction is an ideal study system because both species are well understood ecologically and have profound effects on community structure. I am currently a PhD candidate in Dr. Chris Harley's lab at the University of British Columbia.  Click here to learn more about my research.

Education

Children have a curiosity and thirst for knowledge that few adults can match.  By nurturing that curiosity through science and environmental education, we can help raise responsible citizens (and some scientists!) who actively participate in and care about the natural world around them.  Unfortunately, many children and young adults lack access to even the most basic scientific equipment.  Hope ‘Scopes, a program I helped begin at Pacific Lutheran University, seeks to provide microscopes and other scientific tools to schools in developing countries.  To learn how you can help, or to donate a gently used microscope or hand lens, click here.

Citizen Science

One of the best ways to raise awareness and appreciation of the environment is to engage the public in the process of investigating and addressing environmental issues.  Citizen science, where laypeople with little or no formal scientific training assist in data collection and other aspects of research, provides an opportunity for the public to become involved in the scientific process and interact with the scientists and research that are informing policy decisions.  Just as children are more likely to eat vegetables that they helped grow in their own backyard, so is the public more likely to protect the natural world when they’ve gained a hands-on appreciation of it.  I am currently in the beginning stages of creating an in-house Citizen Science program at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at the University of British Columbia.  If you’d like to learn more about or become involved in citizen science, click here.