Shahid Naeem (he/him) is Professor of Ecology in the Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology at Columbia University in the City of New York, and is widely recognized as a leader in biodiversity science. He obtained his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, was a postdoctoral fellow at Imperial College of London, the University of Copenhagen, and University of Michigan. He has served on the faculty of the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington, and currently serves on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Recipient of the Ecological Society of America’s Buell and Mercer Awards and the Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award at Columbia University, he is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Aldo Leopold Leadership fellow, Michigan Society Fellow, and is an ISI highly cited author. He chaired his department for 12 years, co-chaired the U. N. Millennium Assessment’s Biodiversity Synthesis report, served as President of the Ecological Society of America (2022 - 2025 term), and is currently Deputy Editor for Science Advances. His research, consisting of over 200 publications with over 100,000 citations, focuses on the importance of biodiversity for the magnitude and stability of ecosystem functioning and the services they provide humanity. His lab group is uniquely broad in its scope, conducting research on plants, animals, and microorganisms in natural and managed ecosystems across the globe. [CV 2026: full | one-page]
Matt Palmer (he/him) is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology. He received his PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University, where he studied plant community ecology. He is currently involved in a range of research and education projects in New York City and the surrounding region. He collaborates with NYC Parks, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, NASA, the USDA Forest Service, and several units within Columbia University on research, teaching, and teacher training initiatives. Current research projects include evaluating the ecosystem functions of green infrastructure, studying the ecosystem consequences of reforestation in NYC, and providing scientific support for the management of both invasive and rare species throughout the region. Matt teaches classes in botany, forest ecology, urban ecology, herpetology, and research methods. Many of these classes involve significant field work.
Erich Eberhard (he/him), PhD student | Broadly, I am interested in the interdisciplinary study of coupled human and natural systems, with an emphasis on understanding the socioeconomic drivers of biodiversity loss and its cascading consequences for ecosystem function, ecosystems services, and human wellbeing. My PhD research makes use of emerging technologies, including bioacoustics, to study biodiversity dynamics across multi-use tropical landscapes and unravel the mechanisms by which they shape services. To complement my research activities, I develop multimedia projects that explore environmental narratives and support community participation in research and management.
Rin Krichilsky (He/They, as Erin in the literature) | Rin has an affinity for all creatures six-legged and/or chitinous. However, their soft spot is for wasps and bees in the superfamily Apoidea, which they have been studying since 2015. They graduated with a B.S. in 
Entomology from Cornell University in 2017 and, prior to starting their PhD at Columbia, worked for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the USDA in Utah, and Academia Sinica in Taiwan. They are a partner PhD student advised by Dr. Shahid Naeem in E3B and Dr. Jessica Ware at the American Museum of Natural History. Rin's research focuses on Systematics, Biodiversity, and Ethics. Their dissertation harnesses collections, phylogenomics, and field studies to elucidate the evolutionary relationships of Apoidea, as well as the role of diet in their diversification and richness.
Essential Apoidea Reading Recs: Sphecid Wasps of the World (Bohart and Menke), The Bees of the World (Michener), Wasp Farm (Evans), The Solitary Bees (Danforth)
Maddy Dietrich (she/her), PhD student | My research focuses on how intraspecific trait variation and interspecies interactions impact range-shifting dynamics under climate change. Through a combination of fieldwork and remote sensing, I'm looking at how these factors affect northward mangrove encroachment into salt marshes in northeast FL.
Emily Leggat (she/her), PhD student | I am interested in how human environments and infrastructure influence species interactions. My area of focus is insect interactions in urban areas. [CV 2023]
Lily Kunkel (they/them), PhD Student, former Bridge Scholar |Ecology is the foundation and methodological home base for my research interests, but
I’m deeply influenced and inspired by further research and work experience in social psychology, archaeology, environmental art, and sustainability. I am interested in urban avian communities and the ecosystem services they provide, particularly at the intersection of cultural diversity and biodiversity. As a Two-spirit ecologist of Cherokee and Choctaw descent, I am also interested in the urban Indigenous experience, human-nature relationships, citizen science, and creative, accessible science engagement!
Sean Reese (he/him) is a PhD student in the School of International and Public Affairs' Sustainable Development program. He is broadly interested in natural resource policy but focuses on topics at the intersection of economics, ecology, and earth science. He is particularly interested in global efforts to preserve biodiversity, the economic value of nature, and how the biosphere acts as a mediator for climate change impacts (particularly through the provision of ecosystem services).