Crystal Ernst

Biography

My current work as a Ph.D. candidate at McGill University takes me to Arctic Canada, a region of tremendous social and ecological significance facing various environmental threats. Despite the fact that arthropods are critical components of northern ecosystems and provide many important services, they are poorly understood. The overarching objective of my research is to examine patterns in the food webs and functional structures of ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages in northern Canada. Using a comprehensive approach including field studies, morphological taxonomy and molecular techniques (stable isotope analysis, DNA barcoding), I hope to determine how feeding groups, trophic levels and individual species assemble under given sets of spatial and environmental conditions. Beetles serve as the principal model taxon in my research.

EDUCAUSE Publications

  • Tablets in the Forest: Mobile Technology for Inquiry-Based Learning
    • Article
    • Author

    To support an inquiry-based field research experience, McGill University gave environmental biology students mobile devices to gather rich data in the field and to support learning through real-time interaction with their instructor and the larger research community.

See All Publications by Crystal Ernst

Memberships

EDUCAUSE Member