Short presentation

PhD Fellow in Arctic Plant Diversity and Pollination Networks

I am a PhD Fellow at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen. My work focusses on understanding plant diversity and ecological networks in high-latitude systems undergoing change, using molecular and computational tools to unveil properties of biodiversity and patterns in species interactions that are otherwise difficult to observe. I aim to shed light on the structure, diversity, and properties of Arctic plant-pollinator interaction networks, using molecular techniques to generate network links between bipartite networks (where plants form one set of nodes, pollinators another, and where DNA informs the weighted edges between node sets). Arctic regions are at the forefront of the climate change crisis, and understanding the ways and scales in which plants are dependent on pollinators and vice versa is critical for predicting the consequences of future environmental change on Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, and for supporting public awareness, conservation efforts, and policy development to protect Arctic biodiversity. 

To build our networks, I apply DNA metabarcoding techniques to pollinators we collected in Kalaallit Nunaat Greenland, and isolate the pollen DNA from their bodies in order to compare this DNA to a custom barcode reference library our group has created for the flora of Kalaallit Nunaat Greenland. At a more foundational level, our group has also worked on mass curating and leveraging natural history collections of digitised herbarium specimens and research-grade observations to inform on biodiversity over space and time, while also using the resulting metacollection to shed light on Kalaallit Nunaat Greenlandic plant diversity. My PhD fellowship is enabling me to engage with a myriad of topics I am passionate about, including Arctic and community ecology, ecological network theory, plant-pollinator interactions, global change biology, and combining fieldwork-based and collections-based data acquisition and research. Through my PhD fellowship, I have been working to grow my skillset in fieldwork sampling, molecular techniques, bioinformatic processing, statistical programming, large-scale data curation and analysis, science communication and outreach, interdisciplinary collaboration, research supervision, and academic writing. 

On a broader level, I am driven by understanding the ecological and evolutionary impacts of climate change, habitat fragmentation, and shifts in biodiversity on individuals, species, networks, and ecosystems. While currently working on Polar ecosystems, I am interested in numerous other ecological communities and interacting systems, driven by my goal to generate research output that has direct and meaningful conservation applications. 

 
I started my PhD Fellowship in November 2022, and I will be finishing by the end of 2025 and thereafter searching for Postdoc opportunities. 

Before this PhD Fellowship, I completed the dual degree Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology, where I studied and conducted research at four institutions over two years (namely in Sweden, France, Germany, and Norway/Svalbard). I hold an MSc in Evolution, Ecology and Systematics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany), and an MSc in Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution from The University of Montpellier (France). Before this, I completed my BSc in Global Sustainability Science (majoring in water, climate, and ecosystem science) at Utrecht University (The Netherlands).

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/brandonswhitley.bsky.social

Web of Science ResearcherID: HHC-0933-2022

CV

Education

2022-Ongoing

- PhD Fellowship in Arctic Plant Diversity and Pollination Networks, the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD), University of Copenhagen

2020-2022

-Dual MSc Program - Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology

- MSc in Evolution, Ecology and Systematics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany

- MSc in Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution from The University of Montpellier, France

• Thesis 1: Invasive mtDNA-haplotypes of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii: response to environmental variation in polyp clones and potential for interspecific mating of medusae (Prof. Dr. H. Stibor and Dr. S. Gießler, LMU)

• Thesis 2: An integrated population model methodology for incorporating the effect of inbreeding on fecundity in Svalbard reindeer (Dr. B. Hansen, Dr. H. Jensen, and Dr. A Lee, NTNU)

• Additional Research Project: Modelling the phenotypic optimum and maladaptation of bud break date plasticity of Oak and Beech ( I. Chuine, U. of Montpellier)

2017-2020

- BSc Hons. cum laude in Global Sustainability Science from Utrecht University, The Netherlands with a major in Water, Climate, and Ecosystem Science

• Thesis: The socio-ecological link between biodiversity patterns and food security in Southwestern Ethiopia (Dr. I. Dorresteijn, Utrecht University)
• Graduate of the Utrecht University Geosciences Honours College and the Da Vinci Project Honours Program

Additional TA/RA/Supervision Experience

2022-2023

• Co-Supervision of MSc Student Thesis Project

2017-2022

• Teaching assistant for Utrecht University course “Chemistry of the System Earth”
• Teaching assistant for Utrecht University course “Natural Processes”
• Research intern at the Utrecht University Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology
• Research assistant at the Utrecht University Urban Futures Studio
• Rapporteur for EU-PolarNet conference on Recommendations towards an Integrated Polar Observing System

Additional Positions and Affiliations 

• British Ecological Society, Conservation Ecology Group - PhD student representative 
• Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (Danish Chapter) - Chair of Danish Chapter
• Te Tira Maurikura network for emerging researchers, Te Pūnaha Matatini Centre of Research Excellence for Complex Systems in Aotearoa New Zealand - Member 
• EvoBio Crash Course Educational Program - Member 
• Faculty Board of Natural History Museum of Denmark - PhD student representative

Fieldwork Experience

2022-2024

• Qeqertarsuaq, Qasigiannguit, Ilulissat, Kangerlussuaq, Nuuk, Kobbefjord Research Station, Sisimiut, and Narsarsuaq, Kalaallit Nunaat Greenland fieldwork on Plant-Pollinator Interaction Networks, Plant DNA barcoding, and other collaborations.

2020-2022

• Svalbard, Norway fieldwork on Snow Bunting population monitoring & vegetation experiments
• Bavaria, Germany fieldwork on freshwater jellyfish sampling
• Puéchabon, France fieldwork on experimental forest site monitoring

2017-2020

• Texel, The Netherlands fieldwork on plant surveying along salination gradients
• Kempen-Broek, Belgium fieldwork on ecohydrological restoration