Dr. Laura Figueroa (PI) Assistant Professor Department of Environmental Conservation, UMass, Amherst LLF44 [at] umass [dot] edu
I am an ecologist and entomologist who is passionate about biodiversity and sustainability. I aim to leverage science to gain a greater understanding of pressing environmental stressors and contribute to evidence-based solutions. I have worked in pollinator disease ecology, tropical ecology, climate change, and human-mediated invasive species spread. I work primarily with bees and other pollinating arthropods.
Graduate students
Grace Shiffrin (MS Student) Grace grew up in Davis California and received her BS in both Biology and Environmental Science at Willamette University in Salem Oregon. Broadly she is interested in entomology, land management, community and disturbance ecology. More specifically she is interested in pollination ecology, insect and plant dynamics, and advocating for native ecosystems. While at UMass she will investigate solar facility insect activity as part of the lab's larger project and she will further evaluate which landscape factors encourage insect diversity.
Lab Technicians
Joseph Castillo (Lab technician) My name is Joseph and I am a budding Ecologist who just graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with my B.S in Biology. This Summer I will be working with Dr. Laura Figueroa and Grace Shiffrin on a field project designed to evaluate insect populations and diversity in solar facilities. This project will also assist in the development of novel automated bioacoustics models to monitor insects in a standardized, continuous, and non-lethal manner. When not working in the lab I love working out, hiking with my dog, and singing and playing guitar."