People

Our lab tries to bring together researchers with diverse backgrounds in ecology, evolutionary biology, computer science, and statistics to develop innovative approaches to understanding complex biological systems.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Russell Dinnage

Research Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida International University

Soon to be an Assistant Professor at University of Alberta, starting in July 2025 (stay tuned!).

Russell Dinnage

Dr. Dinnage's research program develops foundation models for organismal biology - artificial intelligence systems that learn from and help us understand living systems at scales from molecules to ecosystems. His work spans across phylogenetic ecology, species distribution modeling, and the application of machine learning to biological problems.

Education:

  • Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto (2007-2013)
  • B.S. in Ecology (major) and Zoology (minor), University of Toronto (2002-2006)

Previous Positions:

  • Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Canberra (2019-2021)
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Australian National University (2015-2019)
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences (2012-2015)

Contact:

View Full CV →

Current Lab Members

Laura Saunders

MSc student, starting September 2026

Laura is the lab's first graduate student. Her thesis uses animal-borne collar-camera video from pronghorn to study habitat selection, diet, and behaviour, in collaboration with the Alberta Conservation Association.

Cassidy Schneider

MSc student

Cassidy is developing methods to detect insect damage — herbivory — on fossil leaves. Her supervision is shared: Shinichi Nakagawa and postdoctoral researcher Christine Sosiak supervise the project, and Dr. Dinnage is registered as an additional supervisor, contributing the machine-learning and imaging side of the work.

Hao [SURNAME — TO CONFIRM]

MSc student

Hao is co-supervised by Dr. Dinnage and Shinichi Nakagawa.