Research Faculty #71

Contact Information

Email
tsengm@mail.ubc.ca
Office Location
Room 110, Biodiversity Research Centre
Lab Location
BRC 280

Research Information

Research Abstract

NEW: *I am accepting 1-2 students for fall 2023 to investigate (a) plankton responses to warming, (b)  relationships between tree traits and insect diversity, or (c) mosquito ecology and evolution. Please email me for more information. Prospective students must be eligible to apply for external funding*

Aquatic and Insect Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

  • ​​We investigate the effect of changing environments on insect and aquatic communities;
  • We use field and laboratory experiments, syntheses of published literature, and natural history collections to investigate ecological and evolutionary responses to climate and habitat change;
  • Our work is grounded in ecological and evolutionary theory and has applications to conservation biology and healthy ecosystems
Research Interests

Plankton & Freshwater Ecosystems

  • Nutrient availability in warming waters;
  • Microplastics, warming, and aquatic ecosystem heath;
  • Responses of phytoplankton to warming waters

Insect Communities

  • Effects of warming on insect populations and communities
  • Mosquito ecology & evolution;
  • Using urban green spaces for insect conservation and pest reduction
  • Citizen science & insect conservation
  • Plastic-eating insects 
Team Members

Ali Dimitriou - Work-learn student

Sophia Fan - MSc Student

Natasha Klasios  - PhD Student

Savi Raghuraman - Honours thesis student 

Markus Thormeyer - PhD Student

Selected Publications

Select Publications

Google Scholar Profile: link
* denotes undergraduate coauthors, please email for pdf requests

  • Tseng, M and 27 coauthors*. 2022. Effects of temperature on monarch caterpillar colour variation in nature. Insect Conservation and Diversity.  (BIOL411 class project) journal link
  • Büyükyilmaz, E*. and M. Tseng. 2022. Developmental temperature predicts body size, flight, and pollen load in a widespread butterfly. Ecological Entomology. 47:872-882 (Undergraduate Honours Thesis)
  • Tseng, M., C. M. Di Filippo, M. Fung*, J.O. Kim*, I.P. Forster, and Y. Zhou*. 2021 Cascading effects of warming in a freshwater community. Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13752.
  • Bartlett, B., J. Fortin, M. B. Kantar, M. Tseng, and Z. Mehrabi. 2021. Digital technology helps remove gender bias in academia. Scientometrics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-03911-4​.
  • El-Sabaawi, R., M.B. Kantar, T. Moore, J.H. Pantel, M. Tseng, J. Ware. 2020. The EEB POC Project. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin 29(3) 97-99
  • Tseng, M., R. El-Sabaawi, M. B. Kantar, J. H. Pantel, D. S. Srivastava, and J. Ware. 2020. Strategies and support for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour in ecology and evolutionary biology. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1252-0
  • ​Tseng, M., E. Yangel*, and A. Zhou*. 2019. Herbivory alters thermal responses of algae. Journal of Plankton Research. 41(5): 641-649
  • Tseng, M., J. Bernhardt, and A. Chila*. 2019. Species interactions mediate thermal evolution. Evolutionary Applications 
  • ​Tseng, M. and S. Soleimani Pari*. 2019. Body size explains interspecific variation in latitude-size relationships in geographically widespread beetle species.  Ecological Entomology. 44: 151-156. DOI: 10.1111/een.12684. *Biol448 paper, undergraduate co-author.
  • ​Tseng, M., K. M. Kaur*, S. Soleimani Pari*, K. Sarai, D. Chan, C.H. Yao, P. Porto, A. Toor, H.S. Toor, and K. Fograscher. 2018. Decreases in beetle body size linked to climate change and warming temperatures. Journal of Animal Ecology.  DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12789 *co-second author, (all co-authors were UBC undergrads). Press coverage of this paper:  Quirks and Quarks; Science; CBC; Phys.org
  • Tseng M., and M. I. O’Connor.  2015. Predators modify the evolutionary response of prey to temperature change. Biology Letters. 11: 20150798. (sup mat), Press: UBC news, Global BC