Assistant Professor, Biology

Concordia University Research Chair (2017-2022)

Biography    Teaching activities    Selected publications   

Education

PhD (University of Tennessee)

Research interests

Our lab works toward elucidating the ecological and evolutionary drivers of biological diversity on Earth. We borrow concepts and tools from community ecology and biogeography to try and gain a mechanistic understanding of the emergence, distribution and maintenance of diversity. To accomplish this, we conduct observational and experimental field studies and compile comprehensive databases on the distributions, ecological characteristics and evolutionary history of species.

Courses

BIOL 353  Communities and Ecosystems
BIOL 451  Field Ecology

Lessard JP, Weinstein B, Borregaard MK, Marske KA, Rojas, D, McGuire JA, Parra JL, Rahbek C, Graham CH. (2016) Process-based species pools reveal the hidden signature of biotic interactions amid the influence of temperature filtering. The American Naturalist 187: 75-88

Jønsson KA, Lessard JP, Ricklefs RR. (2015) The evolution of morphological diversity in continental assemblages of passerine birds. Evolution 69: 879-889

Blonder B, Nogués-Bravo D, Borregaard MK, Donoghue J, Jørgensen PM, Kraft NJB, Lessard JP, Morueta-Holme N, Sandel B, Svenning JC, Violle C, Rahbek C, Enquist BJ. (2015) Linking environmental filtering and disequilibrium to biogeography with a community climate framework. Ecology 96:972-985

Gibb H, Sanders NJ, Dunn RR, Photakis M, Abril S,Andersen AN, Angulo E, Armbrecht I, Arnan X,  Baccaro FB, Boulay R,Castracani C, Del Toro I, Delsinne T, Diaz M, Donoso DA, Enríquez ML, Fayle TM,Feener Jr. DH, Fitzpatrick MC, Gómez C, Grasso DA, Groc S, Heterick B, HoffmannBD, Lach L, Lattke J, Leponce M, Lessard JP, Longino J, Lucky A, MajerJ, Menke SB, Mezger D, Mori A, Paknia O, Pearce-Duvet J, Pfeiffer M, PhilpottS, de Souza JLP, Tista M, Vonshak M, Parr CL. (2015) Climate regulates the effects of disturbance on ant assemblage structure. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282: 20150418

Fowler D, Lessard JP, Sanders NJ. (2014) Niche filtering rather than partitioning shapes the structure of temperate forest ant communities. Journal of Animal Ecology 83:943-952