Faculty

Annette Evans, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biology Joined USJ:
Academic Degrees Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
M.S., Biosecurity and Conservation, University of Auckland, New Zealand
B.S., Biological Sciences and Geology, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Contact Information

Annette E. Evans is a ecologist, herpetologist, and conservation biologist. Her interests focus on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of polymorphic systems (particularly in vertebrate systems) and studying the impacts of invasive species on native communities in America and New Zealand.

Experience

  • Lecturer, Yale University, 2021
  • Adjunct Professor, University of Connecticut, 2020 – 2021
  • Teaching Assistant, University of Connecticut, 2014 – 2020
  • Research technician, University of Auckland, 2014
  • Ecologist, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, 2013

Research

Dr. Evans is interested in how anthropogenic-driven disturbances affect the eco-evolutionary dynamics, biodiversity, and structure of native communities. Much of her work has focused on population and community responses to climate change and the addition or removal of invasive species. Her current work combines invasion ecology and climate change to inform land management by modeling the current and future abundance distributions of invasive plants in eastern North America.

Selected Publications:

  • Evans, AE, Urban MC, Jockusch EL. 2020. Developmental temperature alters color polymorphism but not hatchling size in a woodland salamander. Oecologia. 1 – 10
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04630-y
  • Evans, AE., Forester, BR., Jockusch, E., and Urban, MC. 2018 A widespread salamander does not show predicted morph frequency shifts despite 40 years of climate change. Ecography 41: 1687-1697 doi:10.1111/ecog.03588
    Towns, DR., Borelle, S., Thoresen, J., Buxton, RT., and Evans, A. 2016. Mercury Islands and their role in understanding seabird island restoration. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 40.2: 235-249
  • Evans, AE., Towns, D., Beggs, J. 2015. The relative importance of sugar resources to endemic gecko populations in an isolated island ecosystem. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 39.2: 262