Dr. Julia Riley
Julia is an Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Integrative Wildlife Ecology in the Department of Biology at Mount Allison University where she is active in both teaching and research. She is an ecologist captivated with the wonders of nature. This passion for the natural world drives her research on the natural history, behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. By integrating theories and techniques across these fields to design and carry-out quantitative research her lab tackles both novel and long-held questions in animal ecology. You can contact her anytime at:
Email: jriley@mta.ca | Phone: +1 (506) 364-2506
Address: Department of Biology, Mount Allison University, 63B York Street,
Sackville, New Brunswick, E4L 1G7, Canada
Office: Flemington Rm. 11 | Lab: Flemington Rm. 13
Adjunct at Dalhousie, Laurentian & Queen's Universities
Current Lab Members
Undegraduate Honour's Students
Meg Johnson
Undergraduate Student (Hons) - Mount Allison University - 2026/27
Growing up, Meg was always very interested in the natural world, and was motivated to understand how organisms behave and interact within their environment. It wasn’t until later in her degree that she decided to apply these interests by investigating the behavioural ecology of Atlantic Canada’s at-risk species, including bats and herps! For her honour's research, she is studying the overwintering behaviour of Eastern Painted and Snapping Turtles in the Grand Lake region. When not looking for shelled friends, Meg enjoys teaching her dog new tricks, exploring local cuisine, and sunset bike rides along the Wolastoq River.
Master's of Science (MSc) Students
Mathilde Christjansen
Graduate Student (MSc) - Mount Allison University - 2026/27
Mathilde grew up curious and with a deep fascination with nature. She always loved biology and enjoyed broad interests in living systems well into undergrad, until she realized that ecology was her calling. She is particularly interested in how changing environments affect animal communities and the ecosystem-level repercussions of those changes. Mathilde is now applying her passion for learning to pursue an MSc studying the indirect effects of pesticides on salamanders in Nova Scotia’s hemlock forests. When not busy with research, Mathilde enjoys decompressing with a yoga flow or escaping reality with a good book.
Charlotte Turenne
Graduate Student (MSc) - Laurentian University co-supervised with Dr. Jackie Litzgus - 2025/7
Charlotte's interest in herpetology began during her BSc, where she gained hands-on experience in wildlife conservation by contributing to an ongoing long-term study monitoring threatened reptiles. This experience opened her eyes to the possibility of combining two favourite things into a fulfilling career: being outdoors and observing animals! During her MSc, Charlotte will be working on the long-term turtle project in Algonquin Wildlife Research Station, where she will be studying social behavior of Painted Turtles during nesting. When Charlotte is not searching wetlands for turtles, she enjoys hiking, biking, and spending time with her dogs!
Jordyn Williams
Graduate Student (MSc) - Mount Allison University - 2025/27
Undergraduate Student (Hons) - Mount Allison University - 2024/25
Jordyn always knew that she wanted to work with animals, but it wasn't until she was 12 years old and held a snake for the first time that she realised she wanted to work specifically with reptiles. Jordyn started in the lab when she carried out her honour's research that studied the population ecology of Eastern Painted and Snapping Turtles in Grand Lake, New Brunswick. For her MSc degree, she continued studying this population of turtles, but is now radio-tracking individuals to understand their habitat needs. When she isn't in a lake looking for turtles, Jordyn is typically found watching Formula 1 racing with her cat.
PhD Students
Victoria Tawa
Graduate Student (PhD) - Queens University co-supervised with Dr. Stephen Lougheed - 2024 to 2028
Identifying a moment that sparked Victoria's passion for ecology is not easy. For as long as she can remember, she has had a soft spot for under-appreciated taxa and loved catching frogs and snakes. Upon completing her BSc at Concordia University, she developed her appreciation for the conservation and management for at-risk herps further during a MSc at McGill University. Currently, Victoria is researching the spatial ecology and sociality of Grey Ratsnakes. Whenever she is not out "hiking' (aka. herping), you will find Victoria coaching competitive dance, walking her dog or cat, or daydreaming about her next cup of fresh, home-brewed coffee.
Andrea Gigeroff
Graduate Student (PhD) - Laurentian University co-supervised with Dr. Jackie Litzgus - 2023 to 2027
Andrea took her time getting to biology, spending her younger years pursuing an interest in science and art. When she finally decided that research combined gathering information with creative problem-solving, she knew it's what she wanted to do. Now she's pursuing a PhD investigating the world's only invasive population of gartersnakes in Newfoundland! Andrea has a BSc Honours from Dalhousie University and an MSc from the University of Ottawa. She also still has a healthy interest in the arts, and in her spare time you can often find her at an art gallery, theatre, metal show, or just reading a book.
Research Assistants
Emily Doherty
Research Assistant - Mount Allison University - 2026
Emily has always loved animals and interacting with nature. She likes to spend her free time bird watching, fishing, going for drives to look for frogs, and grabbing a cup of coffee with her grandfather. Before joining our lab, she spent a lot of time carrying out research in marine ecosystems, often studying lobster! She greatly enjoyed her time on the ocean, but this field season Emily has made the transition back to land. This summer Emily is helping out Mathilde in southern Nova Scotia to study salamanders in Hemlock forests to assess whether these amphibians are impacted by an invasive insect and the pesticides used to manage these important ecosystems.
Taylor Gilbert
Research Assistant - Mount Allison University - 2026
Taylor has always had a passion for science. She has been fascinated by experiments and discovering how things work from a young age. As her interests developed, she became especially interested in living systems and the biology of animals. This summer, Taylor is working at Mount Allison University on a project that is applying an innovative method for measuring body composition of animals to new species. Specifically, she is validating Quantitative Magnetic Resonance (QMR) by comparing its results to more traditional methods for a variety of Canadian amphibians and reptiles. Outside of academics and research, she enjoys watching Formula 1, reading, and playing hockey.
Joshua Christiansen
Research Associate - Mount Allison University - 2026/27
Graduate Student (MSc) - Mount Allison University - 2023/25
Josh started in RIEL as a MSc student studying the variation in Eastern Red-backed Salamander behavioural and thermal ecology across a gradient of anthropogenic (human) change! This was after Josh earned his BSc Honours in Ecology and Environmental Biology studying bats at the University of Regina. He is now combining his love of photography and nature and working on creating a field guide to the herpetofauna of Atlantic Canada. When Josh isn’t trudging around the wilds of the east coast, you can find him taking care of his pets, two geckos and a snake, or playing ultimate frisbee!
Jasmine McNairn-Hart
Research & Administrative Assistant - Mount Allison University - 2025/26
Jasmine has always loved the outdoors and grew up hiking and camping frequently. This early connection to nature meant she always knew she wanted a job with lots of field work, but it was one amazing high school teacher who inspired her to study ecology. Jasmine completed her BSc in Biology in 2025 at Mount Allison University, doing her Honour's research on the ecology of goldenrod galls. Since joining the Riley Lab, she has been enjoying helping Jordyn study turtles and supporting the lab through various administrative tasks. When not at work, Jasmine enjoys reading and eating ramen.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Tharusha Wijewardena
Postdoctoral Fellow - Mount Allison University - 2025 to 2026
Postdoctoral Fellow - University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) co-supervised with Dr. Rosalind Murray - 2024 to 2025
Tharusha became interested in freshwater ecology and conservation during her undergrad at UTM. While growing up in Sri Lanka, she enjoyed observing wildlife but had not considered ecology as a career. But, when Tharusha interned at the Toronto Zoo she fell in love with freshwater turtles and has studied them ever since. As a postdoc at UTM, Tharusha studied whether urban heat islands impact the nesting ecology of turtles. At MTA, she is now carrying out a PVA for Nova Scotia Blanding's Turtles. During her free time, she enjoys wildlife photography and video games.
Patrick Moldowan
Postdoctoral Fellow - Mount Allison University - 2026/27
Field Technician - Laurentian University - 2010 & 2011
Patrick is a naturalist-scientist passionate about discovery, observation, and conservation of the natural world. With a special interest in amphibian and reptile biology, his research is focused on natural history, behaviour, and evolutionary ecology. Patrick is involved with long-term studies of salamanders in turtles at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station and will be forging new projects in RIEL. When not immersed in research, Patrick is usually travelling in search of spying amphibians and reptiles further afield in nature and sharing his passion for nature with others.
Dundee Riley-Baxter-Gilbert
Postdog - International Dog of Mystery - 2014 to current
Dundee's journey with the Riley Lab started in Australia, took him to South Africa, and continues in Canada at Mount Allison University. Throughout, his research interest in sleep ethology has never wavered. He has also expanded his behavioural observation skills in the field from echidnas to tortoises, and he hopes to continue to develop his technique with Canadian fauna.
Lab Alumni
Keeghan Stephens | 2025 to 2026 | Habitat selection of juvenile Eastern Painted Turtles
BSc Honours Student, Mount Allison University
Clare Yang | 2024 to 2026 | Invasion biology of Eastern Red-backed Salamanders
MSc Student, Mount Allison University
Ashton Leal | 2025 to 2026
Research & Administrative Assistant, Mount Allison University
Maya Williams | 2024 to 2025
Research & Administrative Assistant, Mount Allison University
Jaden Sellen | 2024
Research Assistant, Mount Allison University
Georgia Christie | 2023 to 2024 | Impacts of urbanisation on terrestrial salamanders
BSc Honours Student, Mount Allison University
Katie Moore| 2022 to 2024
Research & Administrative Assistant, Mount Allison University
Issac Acker | 2022 to 2023 | Snake fungal disease in Atlantic Canada
BSc Honours Student, Mount Allison University
Sara Leslie | 2022 to 2023 | Effects of forestry practices on salamander health
BSc Honours Student, Mount Allison University co-supervised with Dr. Chris Edge
Alexia McCormick | 2022 to 2023 | Colouration and Social Behaviour of Salamanders
BSc Honours Student, Mount Allison University
Cameron Bell| 2020 to 2023 | Effect of Substrate Moisture on Oviparous Reptile Development
Independent Study, Dalhousie University & Research Assistant, Mount Allison University
Carter Rouleau| 2018 to 2020 | Socioecology of Midland Painted Turtles
MSc Student, Laurentian University co-supervised with Dr. Jackie Litzgus
Georgina Binns | 2017 to 2018 | Colour variation in Amata Moths
MRes Student, Macquarie University, Australia co-supervised with Dr. Mariella Herberstein & Dr. Kate Umbers
Rebecca Raynal | 2017 | Heritability of colouration in Jacky Dragons
BSc Honours Student, University of NSW, Australia co-supervised with Dr. Lisa Schwanz & Dr. Kate Umbers
Anna Küchler | 2016 | Tree Skink social learning
DAAD Rise Program Internship, Macquarie University, Australia
Caroline Fryns | 2016| Impacts of developmental environment on social plasticity of a reptile
MSc student, Université de Strasbourg, France
Côme Guidou | 2015 | Tree Skink social behaviour
Internship, Macquarie University, Australia
Marie Favre | 2014 | Tree Skink sociality
Internship, Macquarie University, Australia
Chris Neufeld | 2013 to 2014 | Road ecology of pollinators
BSc Honours student, Laurentian University co-supervised with Dr. James Baxter-Gilbert & Dr. Jackie Litzgus
Jennifer Baxter-Gilbert | 2012 to 2013| Conservation of at-risk reptiles
Field Technician, Magnetawan First Nation
Liv Monck-Whipp| 2011 & 2013 | Reptile road and hatchling turtle overwintering ecology
Field Technician, Laurentian University and the artist behind the Riley Lab logo
Sean Boyle| 2012 | Road ecology and conservation
Field Technician, Laurentian University
Beth McClaren | 2011 | Hatchling turtle overwintering ecology
Field Technician, Laurentian University
Kassandra Hall | 2010 | Freshwater turtle ecology and behaviour
Field Technician, Laurentian University