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Opportunities

Postdocs: I'm always happy to discuss supporting or co-writing grant applications for post-docs.  For example, at Formas, VR, the European Commission, the Carl Trygger's foundation, the Wenner-Gren foundation, or other funding sources.

PhD students: I currently have no PhD positions available.

MSc thesis students: I am always willing to discuss supervising MSc thesis projects.  Just get in touch over email: robert.muscarella -at- ebc.uu.se
Bob Muscarella
Associate Professor
Department of Ecology and Genetics
Uppsala University

I arrived in Uppsala at the start of 2019. Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University (2017-18) and a US National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow based jointly at Aarhus University and Wageningen University (2015-2016).  I earned a BA degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Lewis and Clark College (Oregon, USA), a MSc in Biology from the University of Miami (Florida, USA), and a PhD from Columbia University (New York, USA).

My Google Scholar page

Current teaching at Uppsala University
Ecological Methods (1BG324)
Population and Community Ecology (1BG309)
Biodiversity Diversity: Patterns and Processes (1MB203)
Ecosystems in the Anthropocene (1BG513)
​Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (1BG514)

Past courses
Human Security and Sustainable Development in Tropical Ecosystems (1BG428)
Ecological Effects of Climate Change (1BG417)
Dr. Julia Tavares (Postdoc, 2022-current)

Julia studies how sensitivity to climatic and hydrological changes vary within and across tropical ecosystems.  She uses ecophysiology to address a variety of questions on this topic in Amazonian and Puerto Rican forests. Julia is also passionate about communicating her research and making results that are relevant for conservation and policy. For more info, see Julia's website.
Dr. Rakesh Tiwari (Postdoc, 2023-current)

Rakesh is a Wenner-Gren postdoctoral fellow studying the regulatory dynamics of photosynthesis in plants and tropical forest trees in response to heat. He measures photosynthetic light absorption using an instrument 'Aghora' which he developed during his PhD.  He is interested to understand how plants and ecosystems function in general using empirical approaches. He is also interested in high-accuracy greenhouse gas flux measurements from cropland soils and supports smallholder farmer-centric agriculture mitigation projects.
Laura Moro (PhD student, 2021-current)
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Thesis topic: Effects of land-use on distribution and genetic structure of tropical trees

I earned my BSc in Natural Sciences from the University La Sapienza, and a MSc in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of plants at the University of Edinburgh jointly with the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh (RBGE). As of December 2021 I am a PhD student at Uppsala University. The topic of my thesis is how land-use dynamics have affected the current geographic distributions, population sizes, and genetic diversity of tropical trees on the island of Puerto Rico.
Cesc Borras Sayas (MSc student, 2023-current)
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Thesis topic: The potential to use eDNA to access tropical tree diversity

I earned my BSc in Environmental Biology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and in August 2021 I started my MSc studies at Uppsala University. Since the start of 2023 I have been working on my thesis on the potential use of soil eDNA to characterize tropical forest communities 

Philip David (MSc student, 2024-current)

Thesis topic: Variation of photosynthesis and photorespiration in temperate trees and birch ecotypes

I earned my BSc in Biology from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and in September of 2023. I started my MSc studies at Uppsala University. In June 2024, I started my thesis work on analyzing variation in photorespiration and photosynthesis across temperate tree species and birch ecotypes in Uppsala. 
Past lab members:

​Postdocs
MSc students
  • Zacharias Manias [2022-2023] Trends of bird populations following hurricanes​​
  • Salma Naz [2023] Tissue fractions and hydraulic traits of Puerto Rican trees
  • Markos Nikolaou [2022-2023] Distribution and habitat use of two primate species in Mexico​
  • Helene Hansen [2020-2021] Intraspecific trait variation of Puerto Rican trees
  • Paschalis Chatzopoulos [2020-2021] Allometric relationships of palms
  • Roel Lammerant [2020-2021] Functional and demographic response of tropical tree seedlings to experimental drought
  • Shareen Sanders [2019-2020] Effects of fire on western Australian plant communities
  • Claire Ract [2020] How to design an efficient nature reserve?
  • ​Sanne Welin [2019-2020] Plasticity of grasses in relation to warming​

Bachelors thesis students
  • Farah Solis (2023-2024) Photorespiration of tropical trees

Lab technician
  • Silvia Bibbo [2021-2023] Wood anatomy of Puerto Rican trees