Jessica Coyle

Dr. Jessica Coyle is a faculty member in the Department of Biology at Saint Mary's College of California, within the School of Science. She is the Principal Investigator of the SMC LichenLab, a student-centered research and teaching lab focused on using lichens to understand environmental, trait, and symbiont influences on species distributions across spatial scales.

Education:

• PhD in Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2016)
• BA in Mathematics and Biology, Colorado College (2008)

Research Interests: Dr. Coyle's expertise lies in community ecology, macroecology, and biogeography. Her work explores how multi-species communities vary across space, driven by ecological processes, geography, and scale. Her current projects focus on lichen communities and their associated microorganisms, investigating how host traits mediate symbiont community variation and host species distribution. She is particularly interested in quantitative biology, spatial ecology, and symbiosis.

Research Trends: Her publications span from climate change impacts on species distributions to post-fire lichen recovery, citizen science initiatives, and undergraduate research integration. Her work often combines field ecology with computational approaches, leveraging public datasets and fostering student engagement in authentic research experiences.

Teaching & Mentorship: Dr. Coyle is passionate about teaching quantitative and data analysis skills in science courses. She actively involves students in research through course-based projects and lab work, emphasizing scientific thinking and authentic research experiences.

Contact:

• Email: jrc16@stmarys-ca.edu
• Office: Brousseau Hall 108
• Lab: Brousseau Hall 100