The
Community ecology & restoration lab
Nick barber, san diego state university
About us
Welcome to the research lab of Nick Barber, Associate Professor of Biology at San Diego State University. We study how environmental and anthropogenic factors influence community assembly, trophic interactions, and ecosystem functioning.
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We work in restored, managed, and unmanaged ecosystems, and a major goal of our research is to generate basic ecological knowledge while contributing to the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity. Most of our work focuses on plants, insects, and soil microorganisms.
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Our goal is to cultivate an inclusive lab environment in which people at all career stages are welcomed and feel free to learn and contribute to science regardless of their background or identity.
news
July 2024:
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Liz has been named an ARCS Scholar for 2024-2025!
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Maricela and Sam P.'s paper on invertebrate communities at Nachusa under bison and fire disturbances was accepted for publication at Journal of Insect Conservation! Read it here.
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We're looking forward to ESA in Long Beach. Liz, Alec, Lydia, and Nick will all be presenting. Hope to see lots of friends and colleagues there!
June 2024:
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Camille gave her PhD exit seminar!
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Mareike and Travis both were accepted to MS programs at the University of Kiel!
May 2024:
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Big achievements all around:
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Congratulations to Sam, Connor, and Travis who all graduated!
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Camille was hooded at SDSU's Graduate School Commencement and at the Black Baccalaureate Commencement hosted by SDSU's Department of Africana Studies (where she received a standing ovation!)
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Lydia was accepted into Dr. Lluvia Flores-Rentería's ethnobotany internship program!
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Liz, Alec, and Lydia all had abstracts accepted to ESA's annual meeting in Long Beach. We'll see you there!
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We celebrated the end of the year with a day of tidepooling and found the biggest sea hare ever.
March 2024:
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We are sad that Kendall's time in our lab came to an end, but excited to see her start her new position with Working Lands Conservation in Utah.
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Lydia, Alec, Sam, Travis, and Connor all presented posters at the SDSU Student Symposium. And Connor, Travis, and Sam received an Undergraduate Research Excellence Award for their study of seed emergence in bridal broom, an exotic shrub here in southern California. Congratulations!
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Nick participated in and presented at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's "Sustainable Future" colloquium in San Francisco.
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Camille is running a series of workshops on Mindfulnes for Women in STEM with funding she received from SDSU.
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Shout-out to former lab member Dr. Sheryl Hosler, who successfully defended her PhD dissertation!
December 2023:
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Some new papers from the lab out this fall in Ecology and in FEMS Microbiology Ecology. See the publications page for links!
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Nick gave a webinar for FEMS Microbiology Ecology. You can watch it here.