Strong faculty support, a key to graduate research success
While global climate and land-use changes will reduce biodiversity over the next century, the full extent of the losses is difficult for biologists to predict. In new research aimed at improving the ability to forecast the consequences of global change for various species, Heather Kharouba, a recent master’s graduate in the department of biology, has studied the impact of global change on butterfly species in Canada over the past century.
“Butterflies are an excellent indicator of the impacts of climate change because their behaviour and physiology are heavily influenced by modifications in temperature and precipitation,” explains Kharouba, who has incorporated her research into computerized models that compare butterfly distributions across Canada between 1900 and 1990.
Kharouba’s efforts are part of a groundbreaking University of Ottawa research approach that studies biodiversity changes on the same broad scales at which climate changes are occurring. This “macroecological” (large-scale) approach, outlined in a recent article in Science by Kharouba and biology professors Jeremy Kerr and David Currie, will help researchers better predict the future for biodiversity and guide policy makers in crafting big-picture solutions to worldwide biodiversity losses.
“It’s really gratifying to get this much support and attention for my research efforts at the master’s level,” says the Kharouba of her collaborative work with award-winning professors Kerr and Currie. “It shows that the University of Ottawa is proud of its students and interested in putting their best achievements forward.”
The Ottawa native identifies strong faculty mentoring and access to state-of-the-art facilities at the new biosciences complex as key factors in her success. An additional advantage was the opportunity to help teach undergraduate labs within the biology department ─ an experience she says helped her to build confidence in her academic leadership skills.
Kharouba’s success has been rewarded with a generous Canada Graduate Scholarship to pursue her butterfly research at the doctorate level at the University of British Columbia, where she’s combining models and field work on how butterfly response to climate change is affected by the colourful insect’s relationship to its host plants.
What is Kharouba’s long-term goal? To become a biology professor, she says, and do her own mentoring of young researchers.
By Greg Higgins
Published: February 2009