Michelle Tseng

Assistant Professor

Contact Information

  • tsengm@mail.ubc.ca
  • Office Phone: 604-827-4077
  • Office: Room 110, Biodiversity Research Centre
  • Lab: BRC 280

My Links:
https://www.bugsandplankton.com/


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

  • Alexandre Beauchemin – SURE student
  • Sophia Fan – MSc Student
  • Natasha Klasios  – PhD Student
  • Oliver McDermott – Work learn / Undergrad research assistant
  • Savi Raghuraman – Honours thesis student / Undergrad research assistant
  • Markus Thormeyer – PhD Student

Selected 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 QuarksScienceCBCPhys.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 newsGlobal BC