Michelle Tseng

Michelle Tseng is a scientist from Canada, and currently works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany and Zoology. Michelle Tseng received her Ph.D. from Indiana University in 2005. She then went on to complete her postdoctoral fellowship in 2008 at the University of British Columbia, where she runs her own lab today. Tseng focuses her research on the effects of global warming on insects. The main focus of the Tseng lab is testing both biotic and abiotic variables that affect evolution, and rate of evolution, in communities of insects and plankton. Specifically, the Tseng lab studies responses of communities to global warming, evolutionary effects of climate change, effect of global warming on aquatic food webs, and the effect of global warming on body size. The Tseng lab uses insect and freshwater communities in laboratory and field settings to test these questions. The Tseng lab is located in the Biodiversity Research Center at the University of British Columbia.
Social equality work
In 2020, Michelle Tseng published a commentary article about the low levels of racial diversity in the biological fields of Evolution and Ecology. This article also addresses how people of color can approach the obstacles to entering these fields of study. After experiencing the difficulty of being one of the few, if not the only, person of color in academic and professional gatherings, she wanted to encourage young students to pursue careers and studies in the field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The commentary piece also addresses the importance of mental health and self care, especially for people of color in the field of ecology.<ref name":3" /> "Strategies and support for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour in ecology and evolutionary Biology" was reported on in several media outlets, including UBC Science and Researchnews. <ref name":5" />
Selected publications
El-Sabaawi, R., M.B. Kantar, T. Moore, J.H. Pantel, M. Tseng, J. Ware. 2020. The EEB POC Project. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin 29(3) 97-99
Tseng, M., RW. El-Sabaawi, M.B. Kantar, J.H. Pantel, D.S. Srivastava, J.L. Ware. 2020. Strategies and support for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour in ecology and evolutionary biology. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4(10)1288-1290.
Tseng, M. E. Yangel*, and A. Zhou*. 2019. Herbivory alters thermal responses of algae. Journal of Plankton Research. Accepted.
Tseng, M, J.R. Bernhardt, and A.E. Chila*. 2019. Species interactions mediate thermal evolution. Evolutionary Applications. DOI: 10.1111/eva.12805
Tseng, M. and S. Soleimani Pari*. 2019. Body size explains interspecific variation in latitude-size relationships in geographically widespread beetle species. Ecological Entomology. DOI: 10.1111/een.12684
Tseng, M., K. M. Kaur*, S. Soleimani Pari*, K. Sarai, D. Chan, C.H. Yao, P. Porto, A. Toor, H.S. Toor, and K. Fograscher. 2018. Decreases in beetle body size linked to climate change and warming temperatures. Journal of Animal Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12789 *co-second author, (all co-authors were UBC undergrads from Biol411).
Tseng M. 2017. The effect of parasitism and interpopulation hybridization on Aedes albopictus fitness. Journal of Medical Entomology. 54(5):1236-1242
Tseng M., and M. I. O’Connor. 2015. Predators modify the evolutionary response of prey to temperature change. Biology Letters. 11: 20150798

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu