Micah joined the Lewis Research Group in August 2021 through the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences and is interested in problems in theoretical and spatial ecology. He is working on mountain pine beetle dynamics, developing models to study how resistant trees affect their spread, as well as the effects of climate change and warming temperatures. Micah is also interested in macroecology, studying how species’ spatial distributions can be described at large scales.
Micah completed his PhD in physics at UC Berkeley with Prof. John Harte. In his dissertation, titled “Macroecological patterns out of steady state”, he looked at how ecological disturbance affects macroecological patterns, and how hybridizing information theory and mechanism can be used to describe these effects. Before that, Micah completed his MASt (Part III) at Cambridge University, and his undergrad in physics at Simon Fraser University.
Micah also cares about broader issues in higher education. As a graduate student, he served as co-coordinator for Respect is Part of Research for 3 years, a peer-led sexual harassment / sexual violence prevention program that reached hundreds of incoming graduate students each year in 8 STEM departments. He also helped to expand the program beyond UC Berkeley, with active chapters in five universities including Harvard and Caltech. Additionally, Micah is passionate about teaching and mentoring: he was a graduate student instructor for numerous interdisciplinary courses, a Berkeley Connect Fellow, and served on numerous committees, including as the sole graduate student on the campus wide committee on teaching.
Outside of research, Micah enjoys walking in the river valley, singing, and baking, and is also excited to get back into curling.
Contact info: mbrush <at>ualberta.ca