Dr. Matthew Thomas
Institute Director
Matthew is from the UK and obtained his degrees from the University of Cardiff and the University of Southampton. He has held tenured positions at Imperial College London, CSIRO in Australia, the Centre for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Entomology at Penn State University in the US, and most recently served as the Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute at the University of York in the UK. In late 2022 he returned to the US to take up the exciting new challenge of helping develop the Invasion Science Research Institute at the University of Florida.
He has experience researching a wide range of projects and problems on the ecology and control of insects and diseases. The work has encompassed a range of techniques and approaches from detailed studies in the laboratory through to large-scale field experiments in both temperate and tropical settings. He has published extensively (Google Scholar) but also has a strong focus on implementation and the development of practical solutions.
He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Entomological Society of America, and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Paul Evans
Research Coordinator
Paul is the Research Coordinator and collaborates with affiliated partners of ISRI and both internal and external boards to develop and produce necessary and exciting research. He focuses on community-based education and reporting initiatives, community ecology, and species distribution for terrestrial invasive species. He received his MSc. in Ecology and Conservation from the University of Aberdeen, and his bachelors from the University of South Florida.
His aims are to bridge knowledge gaps existing in the conservation field through wildlife education, scientific research, and public engagement. Previously he worked on a team of biologists working to improve the understanding of herpetofauna and crocodilians in South Florida, the Caribbean, and endangered mammals in Central America. He has aided in improving public perception and awareness of lesser studied species in Alaska, Scotland, and is excited to continue his work in Florida.
He serves as a Board member for the Florida Invasive Species Council (FISC), and is the Outreach Chair for the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (ECISMA). Additionally, he sits on several task teams and committees regionally including SEPARC, NECISMA, and FCISWG.
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Deb Stone
Extension Coordinator
Deb Stone is the University of Florida’s Invasive Species Extension Coordinator. She has a long and dedicated history of invasive species and vegetation management here in Florida, working with many different organizations across the state- the Florida Park Service, St. Johns River Water Management District, the Nature Conservancy, Hillsborough County and Bok Tower Gardens. She is also currently a Doctoral Candidate in Forest Resources and Conservation at UF and received her master’s in the same program from UF in 2017. She is particularly passionate about prioritization, decision support tools, addressing the implementation gap, and fire-invasive plant interactions.
Yunpeng Liu
Post Doc Researcher
Yunpeng Liu is from China and obtained his PhD degree on Ecology at Peking University in 2021. He used to be a visiting scholar in the University of Copenhagen in Denmark during 2019-2020 and a postdoc during 2021-2023 cofounded by Peking University and the Florida Museum of Natural History in UF. He joined the Invasion Science Research Institute (ISRI) in middle 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher.
He is experienced in biogeography, macroecology and biodiversity conservation. His previous works addressed the formation of plant diversity, evolution of ecological niches and the underlying drivers at large spatial and temporal scales (Google Scholar). He will integrate his knowledge on invasive science and address the interplay between invasive insects and their host plants. His future research will focus on modelling and evaluating the invasion risk of exotic species under future climate change.
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Diane J.E. Sturgeon
Post Doc Researcher
Diane is a social scientist that received her PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida in 2023. She has experience in both qualitative and quantitative social science methods and analyses, with a focus on Human Dimensions work. Her previous work has focused on Human Dimensions of the wildlife trade, with a specific look at the exotic, non-traditional pet trade. She is very excited to be a postdoctoral researcher for UF’s Invasion Science Research Institute (ISRI) and explore the intersection of social and invasion science.
