Peter Minchin, Ph.D.

Professor

I received my B.Sc. with 1st class Honours in Botany from the University of Tasmania in 1976 and my Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Tasmania in 1984. After various research and teaching positions in Australia and the USA, I joined the Department of Biological Sciences at SIUE in 2004 and was promoted to Professor in 2016. I am Chair of the North American Section and Vice President for Publications on the Governing Board of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS). My main research interest is the development and evaluation of multivariate statistical methods for analyzing ecological communities and the application of these methods to the conservation and restoration of communities. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in general biology, ecology, conservation biology, biostatistics, wildlife and vegetation techniques, and travel study in biology. In addition, I advise undergraduate and graduate students who undertake research projects through my lab. Most student research is in the area of conservation biology or restoration ecology and involves a combination of field-based observations or experiments and data analysis or modeling in the lab. More mathematically inclined students may undertake projects in the development and evaluation of methods for community analysis.

If you are interested in opportunities for undergraduate or graduate research in my lab, please contact me.

Logan Phillips, M.S.

Recent Graduate Student

Logan received his bachelor’s degree in plant biology, with a specialization in ecology, from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in fall 2019 and started as a graduate student the Minchin lab in fall 2020. His research investigated how non-native plant species are causing changes in native species composition and diversity in remnant Illinois wetlands. Logan successfully defended his M.S. thesis in May 2022. He plans for a career in ecological consulting, restoration, or the conservation of native plants.

Andrew Pyszka, M.S.

Recent Graduate Student

Andrew received his bachelor’s degree in biology, with an emphasis in ecology from Illinois State University in spring 2020. He accepted a Competitive Graduate Award and joined the Minchin lab at SIUE in fall 2020 to investigate changes in the species composition and diversity of remnant loess hill prairies. He also assessed increases in woody species encroachment and invasive species within these prairies and tests for associations between these processes and predictors. Andrew successfully defended his M.S. thesis in May 2022. He plans to find a career in ecological restoration and preservation and hopes to waste the rest of his time fishing.