Kaitlyn Gaynor, PI

Postdoctoral fellow, National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis
PhD, Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, University of California, Berkeley
BA, Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University
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E-mail: kaitlyn.gaynor [at] ubc.ca

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My entry point into science was a fascination with animal behaviour, and as I spent more time observing wild animals, I came to realize that so many aspects of their behaviour are shaped by various forms of human disturbance. My interests have since evolved to include the cascading consequences of human disturbance for ecological communities, and the social dimensions of human-wildlife coexistence. My current research program is thus grounded in a fundamental interest in behavioural and community ecology, with an increasingly applied and interdisciplinary focus, and collaboration is my favorite aspect of research. Outside of science, I find joy in cooking vegetables, riding my bike, fostering community, finding new hiking trails, and exploring new cities.

Kwasi Wrensford
Postdoc, Biodiversity Research Centre, UBC

Email: kwrensfo [at] mail.ubc.ca
Kwasi Wrensford joined the lab as a Biodiversity Research Centre Postdoc in Fall 2023, funded by a US National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology. Kwasi's work focuses on developing models to predict climate change induced range shifts in a variety of mammalian taxa, as well as deploying a wildlife monitoring program in southern Canada to study variation in bobcat's climate-induced range shifts. Kwasi received his PhD in Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, where he studied the role of behaviour in population responses to climate change in two species of chipmunk. Outside of research, Kwasi enjoys exploring the outdoors, cooking, and making music! See more at Kwasi's website: http://kwrensford.weebly.com/​

Cara Appel
Postdoc, Zoology, UBC

Email: cara.appel [at] ubc.ca
Cara joined the lab as a postdoctoral research fellow in January 2026. She is supported by the AI and Biodiversity Change (ABC) Global Center and will focus on projects bridging the fields of computer vision and wildlife ecology. She is interested in using new technologies, including AI tools, to improve research, monitoring, and conservation. Cara recently completed her PhD in wildlife science at Oregon State University, where she worked with the U.S. Forest Service on passive acoustic monitoring for northern spotted owls in Oregon and camera trap monitoring of reintroduced large mammals in Malawi. Previously, she studied North American porcupines for her M.S. thesis at Cal Poly Humboldt and earned her B.A. in environmental studies at the University of Washington. Outside of work, Cara enjoys all forms of nature exploration and is an avid reader. See more at Cara’s website: https://appelc.github.io/

Jenny Green
PhD student, Geography, UBC

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Email: jg1121 [at] student.ubc.ca​
Jenny joined the Gaynor Lab in Fall 2022 as a PhD student in Geography, co-advised by Dr. Naomi Schwartz. Her research focuses on human–wildlife interactions, predator–prey dynamics, and movement ecology. She collaborates with Yosemite National Park to examine black bear responses to human disturbance using GPS collar data, and with the California Wolf Project to study how fire shapes predator–prey interactions across the Cascades and Sierra Nevada using camera trap data. Before graduate school, she contributed to projects on human-cougar interactions through camera trapping in California, high-altitude ecophysiology through small mammal trapping in Colorado, and gray wolf predation through cluster searching in Wyoming. Outside of research, she enjoys running, climbing, skiing, and pottery!​

Gopal Khanal
PhD student, Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability, UBC

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Email: gkhanal [at] student.ubc.ca​
Gopal is a PhD student at IRES, UBC. He is interested in understanding the interface between humans and wildlife. His doctoral research seeks to better understand the socio-ecological drivers of livestock depredation by snow leopards, capitalizing on the recent conceptual advances in prey-predator interaction and landscape of fear theories. Before joining UBC, Gopal worked for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), Government of Nepal for four years as a conservation officer. His prior research engagement encompasses diverse species, including conducting camera trapping surveys of snow leopards to estimate their abundance and distribution, and socio-ecological surveys of river dolphins to understand their responses to anthropogenic factors. Apart from his work, Gopal loves running, hiking, and playing outdoor games.

Nicholas Wright
PhD student, Zoology, UBC

Email: nwright5 [at] student.ubc.ca
Nick joined the lab in 2023 as a PhD student in Zoology. He is interested in mammal community ecology, trophic downgrading, and human-wildlife coexistence in African ecosystems. His graduate research takes place in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique and explores how the reintroduction of African wild dogs has reshaped ungulate antipredator behavior, habitat use, and abundance, and indirectly affected vegetation. His previous work includes studying salmon trophic ecology in California, land-use change in Southwestern agricultural communities, and the effects of hunter-gatherer communities on wildlife populations in Tanzania. Nick loves spending time hiking, discovering obscure animal facts, and hanging out with his dog Kibo.​

Katie Grabowski
PhD student, Zoology, UBC

Email: katie.grabowski [at] ubc.ca
Katie joined the lab as a PhD student in Zoology in 2024. She is interested in understanding how ecosystems are affected by anthropogenic disturbance, and how restoration can facilitate their recovery. For her graduate research, she will use camera traps to explore how large carnivore reintroductions have reshaped the mesocarnivore community at Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in Mozambique following a civil conflict that resulted in reduced large carnivore populations. Before coming to UBC, Katie earned her MSc in Biology at McGill University, where she studied mangrove community ecology. She also earned her MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at the University of Oxford, where she began her study of the mesocarnivore communities at GNP. Outside of academia, she has worked in a variety of conservation education roles, both outside and in the classroom. Apart from research, she enjoys swimming, hiking, making delicious vegan food, and spending time with her dog, Charlie.

Catarina Coelho
PhD student, Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Algarve

Catarina is a PhD student based at the University of Algarve, Portugal, and is co-advised by Dr. Susana Carvalho. She is a recipient of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia PhD fellowship. With an academic background in biology and ecology, Catarina has focused her research on animal behaviour and ecological interactions. During her Masters research, she examined sexual segregation in red deer, deepening her interest in the behavioural ecology of large mammals. Her longstanding fascination with primate behaviour and cognition led her to pursue a PhD project that merges this passion with her background in ungulates. Conducted in Gorongosa National Park, she will explore the sympatric interactions between wild baboons and ungulate species, investigating foraging strategies, dietary seasonality, niche partitioning, and behavioural interactions. Through this study, she aims to shed light into the complex ecological dynamics of these species within a diverse and seasonal ecosystem, and potentially model how hominins and ungulates once shared space.

Sofia Nhalungo
​Research Associate

Sofia André Nhalungo is a Research Technician with the Gaynor Lab. Her work is based in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, where she oversees WildCam Gorongosa, our long-running camera trap monitoring program. Prior to this position, she completed her degree under in Biodiversity Management and Conservation at Eduardo Mondlane University, supervised by Valério Macandza, Kaitlyn Gaynor, and Meredith Palmer and funded by the Mozambique Conservation Leadership Programme. Her research was on the flight behaviour and population structure of impala in hunting and ecotourism areas in Niassa Special Reserve. She has also completed a professional internship at the intuition responsible for managing biodiversity in Mozambique (National Administration of Conservation Areas), where she worked on the licensing of trophy hunting. In addition to studying and working, she enjoys spending time at church, listening to music, and reading Christian books.

Sarah Sun
​BSc Honours Thesis Student

​Sarah Sun joined the lab as a Work-Learn research assistant in the Summer of 2024 and was an NSERC USRA recipient for Summer 2025. She is a third-year undergraduate science student at UBC. Sarah is particularly interested in how behavioural dynamics between species shift in response to changes in environment, such as various levels of human activity and the introduction or reintroduction of other species. She was initially introduced to the Gaynor lab's work through the WildCam Gorongosa project on Zooniverse, and is excited to continue helping with similar projects. In her free time, Sarah enjoys drawing, community science, finding new music, and visiting parks (and looking for frogs!).

Paxton Lin 
BSc Honours Thesis Student, NSERC USRA

Paxton Lin joined the lab as a research assistant in the Summer of 2024. He is a second-year undergraduate student in Ecology at UBC. He has been passionate about ecology since high school, especially on how human activity affects forest biodiversity and pest infestations. He has volunteered at his local Salmon hatchery and has learned to appreciate the ecosystems in the surrounding watershed and within the bodies of water. He hopes to contribute to work regarding species interactions and learn how abiotic and biotic factors impact species diversity alongside their spread. Outside of school, Paxton loves backpacking, running, and staying active outside.

Raminder Bal
​​​BSc Honours Thesis Student, Research Assistant

Raminder Bal initially joined the lab as a volunteer for the WildCam Gorongosa project in September 2024, and has been a research assistant since. She is a fourth year Applied Animal biology major in the faculty of Land and Food Systems. She is passionate about learning more about how animal behaviour shifts due to human disturbances. In her free time, she enjoys going for long walks, reading, watching movies, as well as volunteering at an animal sanctuary and hanging out with chickens.

​Jacqueline Tingle
​Research Assistant

​Jacqueline joined the lab as a research assistant in January 2026. She is a fourth-year Global Resource Systems major studying ecology with a focus on wildlife and coastal ecosystems. She wants to understand how human activity shapes ecosystem stability and resilience, particularly following natural disasters. In her free time, Jacqueline can be found reading, tidepooling, baking, and camping.

Bilal Bartaai
​​​Research Assistant

Bilal joined the Gaynor Lab in early 2024 and is now a research assistant under the EnSURE award for the summer of 2026. He is an Environmental Sciences (and Classics) major, with a focus on ecology and conservation. He is passionate about science communication, terrestrial ecology, and making science accessible to all. In his free time, you can find Bilal reading, listening to a new album, trying a new cafe, or all three at the same time.

Marta Togatorop
​​Research Assistant

​Marta Togatorop is an undergraduate student in a Combined Major in Computer Science and Physics at UBC. She is interested in applying programming and data analysis to real-world problems. She is working on camera trap and computer vision projects in the Gaynor Lab.

Jack D'Souza
​​Research Assistant

Jack in an Undergraduate student who first began working in the lab as a volunteer in 2024. He’s interested in community ecology and predator prey dynamics. In his free time he enjoys backpacking, canoeing, snowboarding and reading.

FORMER LAB MEMBERS

Graduate students
Sofia Nhalungo, MSc, Biodiversity Management and Conservation, University of Eduardo Mondlane, 2024

Undergraduate BSc Honours
Lucas Braun, 2025
Sophie Van Cuylenborg, 2025

Undergraduate Research Assistants
Mahshid Heydarirad, 2026
Kanaad Bodkhe, 2026
Rithu Gunasekara, 2026
Callixta Cahyaningrum, 2026
​Sally Liu, 2025-2026
Taya Baerg, 2025
Alvar Annersten, 2025
​Teague Moffitt, 2025
Harvir Lochab, 2025
Tiffany Taketa, 2024

Staff
Beto Tenente, Research Associate, 2022-2025
Guarav Singh-Varma, Lab manager, 2023-2024