Lab members
Dr. Juan P. Quimbayo
Principal Investigator
I am an ecologist who uses a multidisciplinary approach to understand and conserve biodiversity through space and time. I earned my Ph.D. from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil and served as a Research Scientist at the Ohio State University. I previously conducted a post-doctoral work at other institutions, including the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and São Paulo University. I joined the University of Miami in 2024 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology where I established the BioScales Lab.
Dr. Luiza S. Waechter
Postdoc
Luiza’s interests lie in the functional diversity of reef ecosystems, with a focus on fishes. She aims to understand species’ functional traits, their ecological roles, and the ecosystem services they provide. She is also interested in how functional diversity varies across spatial (marine and terrestrial) and temporal scales. More broadly, she seeks to work across different organismal groups to improve our understanding of ecosystem functioning and to develop strategies to mitigate the impacts of human activities on these systems.
Anna Koivunen
PhD Student
Anna’s interests lie in marine ecology and conservation, with a focus on the patterns and processes shaping biodiversity. She is particularly interested in how environmental factors influence the distribution of fish assemblages and how to minimize the impacts of climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances. She is also passionate about environmental education that supports both ecosystem health and the socio-economic well-being of local communities.
Dawn Kaufman
PhD Student
Dawn’s interests focus on the ecology and physiology of marine ecosystems, particularly how climate-driven range shifts reshape interspecific relationships. Her work aims to identify large-scale symbiotic interactions that emerge as species form novel associations under environmental change. By advancing understanding of these dynamics, she seeks to inform targeted conservation strategies that support marine ecosystems under ongoing climate change.
Paulina Kirik
Undergraduate student
Paulina is an undergraduate student studying biology and marine science, with a strong interest in marine biology and conservation. She is eager to expand her experience through diverse research and fieldwork opportunities. She also aspires to integrate community outreach into her work to inspire others to care for the ocean. In the BioScales Lab, Paulina contributes to projects focused on Floridian and archipelago biodiversity.
Olivia Pitman
Undergraduate student
Olivia is a sophomore at UM majoring in health science, with minors in biology and mathematics. She is passionate about conserving and protecting oceans and coastal ecosystems and is eager to gain further experience in conservation science. In the lab, she contributes to projects on Florida and archipelago biodiversity.
Mallory Sims
Undergraduate student
Mallory is a senior at the University of Miami, majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Ecosystem Science and Policy, and is expected to graduate in December 2025. Her passion for ecology deepened during a study abroad program in San Cristóbal, Galápagos, where she gained hands-on field research experience and observed the importance of conservation firsthand. She is particularly interested in understanding and protecting Florida’s biodiversity. In the BioScales Lab, she investigates how the invasive brown anole (Anolis sagrei) affects native species and the structure of surrounding ecological communities.
Rio
Lab Pet
Rio is interested in beaches, rivers, and fruits. Ongoing work focuses in understanding human dynamics and developing strategies to gain more attention.
Visiting Scholars
Dr. Murilo S. Dias
Associate Professor, University of Brasilia
Dr. Dias visited the BioScales Lab for two weeks in March 2026 as a Visiting Professor, collaborating on the project “Mapping fish biodiversity centers across freshwater and marine ecosystems.” During his visit, he contributed his expertise in freshwater macroecology to advance analyses of the processes shaping fish communities across freshwater and marine habitats. The visit included intensive work on data analysis and manuscript preparation, as well as seminars and discussions with students and researchers, strengthening ongoing research and fostering new collaborations.
Melina F. Martello
Ph.D. student
Melina is a marine ecologist focused on reef environments and coral distribution patterns. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), where she combines field data, ecological theory, and statistical modeling to investigate the drivers of coral assemblages in the Southwestern Atlantic. At the BioScales Lab, she aims to expand this work across spatial scales, identifying key factors shaping multiple facets of biodiversity from microhabitats to broad latitudinal gradients.