Providing mixed-method research experience opportunities for SIUE students is a top priority of the McCarragher Biogeography Lab Group. I am always seeking and recruiting enthusiastic, hard-working, and collegial students for research projects.
The following are a few of our current research projects. If any of them interest you, feel free to contact me for more details on how you can get involved.
- Exploring the ecological impacts and underlying evolutionary mechanisms associated with the spread of Lonicera maackii (Amur honeysuckle).
- Investigating the role of urbanization in the spread of invasive plant species. Specifically, to what extent does distance from roads impact exotic invasive species densities?
- Interdisciplinary investigations of unique closed depressions in Cumberland Plateau: geophysical properties, micro-climates, and vegetation communities.
- “Building a Smarter Chattanooga: Connecting our City to its Foundation” project – placemaking and community engagement with story maps.
- Story maps connecting Edwardsville to its foundation in an effort to facilitate and assess placemaking and community engagement.
- Exploring the socio-ecological characteristics of greenways within multiple cities reflecting various stages of future urban growth to develop an evidence-based, comprehensive framework for assessing the impact of greenways on the built and natural environment and city resilience.
