Dr. Lauchlan Fraser

NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation
Department of Natural Resource Science

Dr. Fraser's expertise is in community and ecosystem ecology, focusing on ecosystem reclamation, biodiversity, range management, climate change, and food web theory. Lauch is the associate editor of two academic journals (Applied Vegetation Science and Plant Ecology), and chair of HerbDivNet, an international network of over 60 scientists united to explore the drivers controlling herbaceous plant diversity.

Expertise and research

• Grassland and wetland ecosystems
• Ecosystem reclamation
• Biodiversity
• Climate change
• Range management
• Food web theory

Education and credentials

• B.Sc., Biology, University of British Columbia
• M.Sc., Plant Ecology, University of British Columbia
• Ph.D., Plant Ecology, University of Sheffield

Experience

• 2018 - Present | Thompson Rivers University
  Professor and Senior NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation
• 2009 - 2018 | Thompson Rivers University
  Professor and Canada Research Chair in Community and Ecosystem Ecology
• 2004 - 2009 | Thompson Rivers University
  Associate Professor and CRC
• 2004 | University of Akron
  Associate Professor, Department of Biology
• 1999 - 2004 | University of Akron
  Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
• 1998 - 1999 | Carleton University
  Lecturer, Department of Biology
• 1996 - 1999 | University of Ottawa
  Post-Doctoral Research Associate

Academic publications

• Maestre, F. T., Le Bagousse-Pinguit, Y., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Eldridge, D. J., Saiz, H., Berdugo, M., Gozalo, B., …, Fraser, L. H., …, Stephens, C. R. A., …, Gross, N. 2022. Grazing and ecosystem service delivery in global drylands. Science, 378(6622), 915-920.
• Wang, Y., Cadotte, M. W., Chen, Y., Fraser, L. H., Zhang, Y., Huang, F., Luo, S., Shi, N., & Loreau, M. (2019). Global evidence of positive biodiversity effects on spatial ecosystem stability in natural grasslands. Nature Communications, 10(1), 3207.
• Henry, H. A. L., Abedi, M., Alados, C. L., Beard, K. H., Fraser, L. H., Jentsch, A., Kreyling, J., Kulmatiski, A., Lamb, E. G., Sun, W., Vankoughnett, M. R., Venn, S., Werner, C., Beil, I., Blindow, I., Dahlke, S., Dubbert, M., Effinger, A., Garris, H. W., … Yang, X. (2018). Increased soil frost versus summer drought as drivers of plant biomass responses to reduced precipitation: results from a globally coordinated field experiment. Ecosystems, 21(7), 1432–1444.
• Koerner, S. E., Smith, M. D., Burkepile, D. E., Hanan, N. P., Avolio, M. L., Collins, S. L., Knapp, A. K., Lemoine, N. P., Forrestel, E. J., Eby, S., Thompson, D. I., Aguado-Santacruz, G. A., Anderson, J. P., Anderson, T. M., Angassa, A., Bagchi, S., Bakker, E. S., …, Fraser, L. H., … Zelikova, T. J. (2018). Change in dominance determines herbivore effects on plant biodiversity. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(12), 1925–1932.
• ResearchGate
• Google Scholar

Awards

• 2022 Life Sciences BC
  Genome BC for Scientific Excellence
• 2022 President's Distinguished Scholar Award
  Thompson Rivers University

Affiliations

• HerbDivNet
  Chair
• Applied Vegetation Science
  Associate Editor
• Plant Ecology
  Associate Editor
• BC Technical and Research
  Committee Member