Lab Directors

Gareth Russell (Co-Director)
Dr. Gareth Russell is an Associate Professor of Ecology and Conservation Biology. Growing up in the UK, he obtained his undergraduate degree at Oxford University and then moved to the US to pursue his PhD at the University of Tennessee. After post-doctoral research positions in Tennessee and California, he lectured at Columbia University before joining NJIT in 2005. Dr. Russell studies spatial ecology, with a current emphasis on interpreting animal movement data. He is also interested in applying new technology, such as machine learning, to improve our understanding and stewardship of the natural world. His lab website is www.structuralecology.net.

Daniel Bunker (Co-Director)
Dr. Daniel Bunker is an Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He earned his BS at The Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington and his PhD at the University of Pittsburgh. He was a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University before joining NJIT in 2008. Dr. Bunker studies community ecology and evolutionary biology with an emphasis on global change, plant-animal interactions, urban ecology and evolution. Dr. Bunker also has a longstanding interest in ecoinformatics.

Maria Stanko (Co-Director)
Dr. Maria Stanko is a community ecologist and Senior University Lecturer in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at NJIT. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME and completed her PhD at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. In 2010, she joined NJIT where her primary role is in curriculum development and undergraduate teaching. Dr. Stanko’s research examines the role of species interactions, especially between flowering plants and pollinators, in biodiversity maintenance and investigates the community-wide consequences of the disruption of these interactions through loss of biodiversity, species invasion, and global change. Her teaching and research interests also include scientific teaching, urban agriculture, and invertebrate conservation.

Caroline DeVan (Co-Director)
Dr. Caroline DeVan is a University Lecturer at NJIT. She received her B.A. from University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she began her career in ecology and climate change research working first as an undergraduate researcher and then as a technician at the Free-Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN. After working in a variety of labs across the United States and doing field research in far-flung locales such as the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico; Barro Colorado Island, Panama; and Palmer Station, Antarctica, she began her Ph.D. at NJIT under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Bunker. Caroline’s dissertation research focused on plant-pollinator relationships and the ecology of the recently introduced cavity-nesting bees, Osmia cornifrons and O. taurus in New Jersey. She was hired as a full-time instructor at NJIT in Fall 2016 where she now teaches Concepts of Biology with Dr. Maria Stanko, Foundations in Ecology and Evolution, and Animal Behavior. Her courses incorporate inclusive and innovative teaching practices that seek to prepare the next generation of biologists and environmental science professionals to meet a range of future challenges by providing them with first-hand experiences in scientific research.