Anne C.S. McIntosh, PhD

Associate Professor
University of Alberta, Augustana Campus
Office Location: C154 - until pandemic - now home
Mailing address:
4901 46 Ave
Augustana Campus, University of Alberta
Camrose AB T4V 2R3
amcintos"at"ualberta.ca

About me:

I am an Associate Professor of Biology at the Augustana Campus of University of Alberta. I began working at Augustana in July 2014 and love working on a campus where we are passionate about undergraduate teaching and learning. I am also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Renewable Resources.

Teaching:

I was honored to receive the Augustana Student Association's Betty Ostenrud Award for a Faculty member who has given of themselves tirelessly to the benefit of students and the institution as a whole for 2021-2022.

I received the Augustana Early Achievement of Excellence in Teaching Award in 2017.

My philosophy on teaching and learning can be read HERE.

My teaching interests include anything to do with plants, statistics, conservation biology, and all levels of ecology.

For the 2022-23 academic year I am teaching the following courses:

Fall Semester 2022

  • AUBIO 355: Ecological Dynamics (Block)
  • AUBIO 350: Conservation Theory and Biodiversity in Tropical Systems (11 week)

    Winter Semester 2023

  • AUBIO 459:Field Studies in Tropical Ecology and Conservation (Block)
  • AUBIO 253: Ecological Interactions (Lecture and all Labs)

    The courses that I regularly teach include the following:
  • AUBIO 253 Ecological Interactions (Lecture and Lab - Winter annually)
  • AUBIO 315 Advanced Biological Analysis (new - Fall 2018 Block)
  • AUBIO 323 - Plant Biology (Lec/Lab - Fall biennial)
  • AUBIO 355 - Ecological Dynamics (Fall block biennial)
  • AUBIO 350/459 Costa Rica Field Studies in Tropical Ecology and Conservation (Fall 11, Winter Block, Biennial)
  • AUSTA 215 - Statistical Methods for the Natural Sciences (Fall or Winter annually)

    I supervise directed reading and studies students focusing on plant community ecology, disturbance ecology, and riparian restoration. Undergraduate students I have supervised include:
  • Nathanael Tabert - Dendrochronology to evaluate climate-growth relationships for lodgepole pine forests in northern BC (Directed study, Winter 2022)
  • Jordan Vanden Berg - Dendrochronology to evaluate climate-growth relationships for lodgepole pine forests in northern BC (Directed study, Fall 2021 - Winter 2022)
  • Chantal Ricard - Changes in plant community composition from the red to grey attack stages in mountain pine beetle attacked lodgepole pine forests (Directed reading, Fall 2018)
  • Michelle Rude - Advanced ecoinformatics and multivariate statistical analysis of community ecological data (Directed reading, Winter 2018)
  • Melissa Tollitt - Dendrochronology to evaluate climate-growth relationships for three Alberta tree species regenerating in the understory (Directed reading and study, Fall 2016-Winter 2017)
  • Michael Watchorn - Wetland restoration of areas degraded by off-highway vehicles (Directed reading, Winter 2017)
  • Sammy Lowe - Bryophytes: an exploration of their biological and ecological factors in the context of oil sands reclamation practices (Directed reading, Fall 2016)
  • Shane Hoveland - Riparian restoration in west-central Alberta (Directed reading, Winter 2016)
  • Chelsey Mowat - Climate change and grazing effects on plant community composition in northern temperate grasslands (Directed study, Fall 2015)
  • Sammy Lowe - Climate change and grazing effects on root biomass in northern temperate grasslands (Directed study, Fall 2015)

    Research:

    My research is focused on ecological recovery of forested and grassland ecosystems after both natural and anthropogenic disturbance agents including:
  • Recovery of soil and vegetation on grasslands and forested lands on certified reclaimed wellsites. For more information visit the Ecological Recovery Monitoring project website . You can also learn more in our video that highlights our project here: VIDEO
  • Recovery of lodgepole pine plant and microbial communities after mountain pine beetle attack
  • Response of lodgepole pine plant communities in areas around the world where lodgepole pine has been introduced
  • Ecological sustainability in rural landscapes - examining the role of forest, grassland, and wetland habitats in carbon sequestration/valuation and biodiversity conservation within Beaver County. (PI: Glynnis Hood, Co-PIs myself and Glen Hvenegaard)
  • I am also a research collaborator on the NSERC CRD "Boreal Ecosystem Recovery and Assessment"
  • My MSc student, Raiany Silva, explored restoration of wetland areas degraded by off-highway-vehicle use in Eagle Point Blue Rapids near Drayton Valley, AB. She successfully defended her MSc in January 2019.

    • Supervision of post-doctoral fellows (PDF), graduate students, and summer research assistants have included the following individuals I was the primary supervisor for:

    Research assistants

  • Beatriz Moreira (Mitacs intern from Brazil, June - September 2022)
  • Jocelyn Kublik (NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Assistantship, May - August 2022)
  • Selena Schut (Biodiversity Recovery Project, January 2022-September 2022)
  • Michelle Rude (Ecological Recovery Project, December 2020-May 2021)
  • Chantal Ricard (Faculty Research Assistantship, Summer 2019)
  • Lara Canovai (MITACS intern from Germany, Summer 2019)
  • Michelle Rude (Faculty Research Assistantship, Summer 2018)
  • Anya (university of Alberta research experience student intern from Singapore, Summer 2018)
  • Melissa Tollitt (Faculty Research Assistantship, Summer 2017)
  • Benedict Oxenham (university of Alberta research experience student intern from UK, Summer 2017)
  • Ruijing Cheng (MITACS intern from China, Summer 2016)
  • Raiany Dias de Andrade Silva (MITACS intern from Brazil, Summer 2015) - went on to complete her MSc with me
  • Carissa Wasyliw (Ecological recovery intern, Fall 2014)

    Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows (PDFs)

  • Seung-Il Lee (PDF, April 2021-January 2022)
  • Randi Lupardus (PDF, January 2018-December 2019)
  • Raiany Dias de Andrade Silva (MSc student, January 2017-January 2019)

    Publications:

  • Rude M, Ricard C, Lupardus R, McIntosh ACS. June 2022, posting date. Arrested succession? Assessing plant community recovery on reclaimed oil and natural gas well pads in Alberta's boreal forests using multivariate analyses. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology, Vol. 18: Practice #1 [online]. LINK
  • McIntosh A and Rintoul J. 2022. Special Place Assignments: Connecting Ecological Concepts to Each Student’s Unique Locale Through Scaffolded Portfolio Assignments. Article 65 In: Boone E and Thuecks S, eds. Advances in biology laboratory education. Volume 42. Publication of the 42nd Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE). LINK.
  • Cardou F, Munson AD, Boisvert-Marsh L, Anand M, Arsenault A, Bell FW, Bergeron Y, Boulangeat I, Delagrange S, Fenton NJ, Gravel D, Hamel B, Hébert F, Johnstone JF, Kumordzi BB , Macdonald SE, Mallik A, McIntosh ACS, McLaren JR, Messier C, Morris D, Shipley B,Sirois L, Thiffault N, Aubin I. 2022. Above- and belowground drivers of intraspecific traits variability across subcontinental gradients for five ubiquitous forest plants in North America. Journal of Ecology. LINK
  • Segura-Totten M, Dewsbury B, Lo S, Bailey EG, Beaster-Jones L, Bills RJ, Brownell SE, Caporale N, Dunk R, Eddy SL, García-Ojeda ME, Gardner SM, Green LE, Hartley L, Harrison C, Imad M, Janosik AM, Jeong S, Josek T, Kadandale P, Knight J, Ko ME, Kukday S, Lemons P, Litster M, Lom B, Ludwig P, McDonald KK, McIntosh ACS, Menezes S, Nadile EM, Newman SL, Ochoa SSD, Olabisi O, Owens MT, Price RM, Reid JW, Ruggeri N, Sabatier C, Sabel JL, Sato BK, Smith-Keiling BL, Tatapudy SD, Theobald EJ, Tripp B, Pradhan M, Venkatesh MJ, Wilton M, Warfa AM, Wyatt BN, Raut SA. 2021. Chronicling the Journey of the Society for the Advancement in Biology Education Research (SABER) in its Effort to Become Antiracist: From Acknowledgement to Action. Frontiers in Education. LINK
  • Hood G, McIntosh ACS, Hvenegaard GT. 2021. Ecological compromise: Can alternative beaver management maintain aquatic biodiversity? Wetlands. 41:112.LINK
  • Gray AN, McIntosh ACS, Garman SL, Shettles MA. 2021. Predicting canopy cover of diverse forest types from individual tree measurements. Forest Ecology and Management Download
  • Steinke J, McIntosh ACS, Schroeder L, Macdonald SE. 2020. Understory vegetation responses to simulated mountain pine beetle attack and salvage logging in grey attack stage lodgepole pine stands. Forest Ecology and Management. Link
  • Azeria ET, Santala K, McIntosh ACS, Aubin I. 2020. Plant traits as indicators of recovery of reclaimed wellsites in forested areas: slow but directional succession trajectory. Forest Ecology and Management.Link
  • Lupardus R, Santala K, Azeria E, Aubin I, McIntosh ACS. 2020. Uncovering traits in recovering grasslands: A functional assessment of oil and gas well pad reclamation. Ecological Engineering X 100016. Link
  • Kumordzi B, Aubin I, Shipley B, Violle C, Johnstone J, Cardou F, Anand M, Arsenault A, Bell W, Bergeron Y, Boulangeat I, Brousseau M, de-grandpre L, Delagrange S, Fenton N, Gravel D, Macdonald SE, Hamel B, Higelin M, Hebert F, Isabel N, Mallik A, McIntosh ACS, McLaren J, Messier C, Morris D, Thiffault N, Tremblay J-P, and Munson A. In press. Geographic scale and disturbance influence intraspecific trait variability in leaves and roots of North American understory plants. Functional Ecology. Link
  • A blog post about this functional ecology paper BLOG
  • Lupardus R, McIntosh, ACS, Janz, A, Farr, D. 2019. Succession after reclamation: Identifying and assessing ecological indicators of forest recovery on reclaimed oil and natural gas well pads. Ecological Indicators. 106, 105515 Link
  • McIntosh ACS, Drozdowski B, Degenhardt D, Powter CG, Small CC, Begg J, Farr D, Janz A, Lupardus RC, Ryerson D, Schieck J. 2019. Monitoring ecological recovery of reclaimed wellsites: protocols for quantifying recovery on forested lands. MethodsX. Link.
  • Davis K, Callaway RM, Fajardo A, Pauchard A, Nuñez MA, Brooker RW, Maxwell BD, Dimarco RD, Peltzer DA, Mason B, Ruotsalainen S, McIntosh ACS, Pakeman RJ, Smith AL, Gundale MJ. 2018. Severity of impacts of an introduced species corresponds with regional eco-evolutionary experience. Ecography. 42: 1-11.Link
  • Hird JN, Montaghi A, McDermid GJ, Kariyeva J, Moorman B, Nielsen SE, McIntosh ACS. 2017. Use of unmanned aerial vehicles for monitoring recovery of forest vegetation on petroleum well sites. Remote Sensing. 9(5), 413 (Open Access). Link
  • Quideau SA, McIntosh ACS, Norris CE, Lloret E, Swallow MJB, Hannam K. 2016. Extraction and analysis of microbial phospholipid fatty acids in soils. Journal of Visualized Experiments.LINK
  • McIntosh ACS, Macdonald SE, Quideau S. 2016. Diverse understory plant communities are linked to fine-scale above- and below-ground heterogeneity within mature lodgepole pine forests. Plos ONE. Available HERE. Data are also available for download HERE.
  • Solymos, P, Morrison SF, Kariyeva J, Schieck J, Haughland DL, Azeria E, Cobb T, Hinchliffe R, Kittson J, McIntosh A, Narwani T, Pierossi P, Roy M, Sandybayev T, Boutin S, Bayne E. 2015. Data and information management for the monitoring of biodiversity in Alberta. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 39(3):472-479. Available HERE
  • McIntosh ACS, Macdonald SE. 2013. Short-term resistance of ecosystem properties and processes to simulated mountain pine beetle attack in a novel region. Ecosphere. 4(6): article 68. PDF
  • McIntosh ACS, Macdonald SE, Quideau S. 2013. Linkages between the forest floor microbial community and resource heterogeneity within mature lodgepole pine forests. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 63: 61-72. PDF
  • McIntosh ACS, Macdonald SE. 2013. Potential for lodgepole pine regeneration after mountain pine beetle attack in newly invaded Alberta stands. Forest Ecology and Management. 295: 11-19. PDF
  • McIntosh ACS. 2012. PhD Dissertation. Ecology of understory and below-ground communities in lodgepole pine forests under changing disturbance regimes. University of Alberta PDF
  • McIntosh ACS, Macdonald SE, Gundale MJ. 2012. Tree species versus regional controls on ecosystem properties and processes: an example using introduced Pinus contorta in Swedish boreal forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 42: 1228-1238. PDF
  • McIntosh ACS, Gray AN, Garman SL. 2012. Estimating canopy cover from standard forest inventory measurements in western Oregon. Forest Science, 58(2): 154-167. PDF
  • McIntosh ACS, Gray AN, Garman SL. 2009. Canopy structure on forest lands in western Oregon: differences among forest types and stand ages. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-794. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 35 p.PDF
  • Nadkarni, N.M., McIntosh ACS, Cushing JB. 2008. A framework to categorize forest structure concepts. Forest Ecology and Management, 256: 872-882. PDF
  • McIntosh ACS., Cushing, J.B., Nadkarni, N.M., & Zeman, L.. 2007. Database design for ecologists: composing core entities with observations. Ecological Informatics 2:224-236. PDF
  • Cushing, J.B., Nadkarni, N.M., Finch, M., Fiala, A.C.S., Murphy-Hill, E., Delcambre, L., and Maier, D. 2007. Component-based end-user database design for ecologists. Journal of Intelligent Information Systems. 29(1): 7-24. PDF
  • Fiala ACS Garman SL, Gray AN. 2006. Comparison of five canopy cover estimation techniques in the western Oregon Cascades. Forest Ecology and Management. 232: 188-197.
  • Fiala ACS. 2003. Master of Science Thesis. Forest canopy structure in western Oregon: characterization, methods for estimation, prediction, and importance to avian species. Oregon State University. 335 pp." PDF

    • Online Research Information

    I presented a poster at the Virtual International Boreal Forest Research Association 2021 Conference August 2021. Information can be found HERE

    I presented a poster at the Virtual Conference of the Association for Biology Lab Education June 2021. Information can be found HERE

    I presented a poster at the Virtual Undergraduate Biology Conference of Alberta Conference May 13, 2021. Information can be found HERE

    I presented a poster at the Association for College and University Biology Educators Annual (Virtual) Meeting October 24-25 2020. Information can be found HERE

    I presented two posters at the Ecological Society of America Annual (Virtual) Meeting August 3-6 2020. Information on those can be found HERE

    Work Experience Before Augustana:

    Prior to starting as an Assistant Professor I worked as an ecologist with the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute in the Application Centre on the ERM project, which is establishing a program to evaluate ecological recovery of oil and gas well sites after they have been certified reclaimed.

    I was a co-instructor of BIOL 332: Community Ecology at the University of Alberta for the Fall 2013 and Winter 2013 semesters.

    I was a sessional instructor of FOR 322: Forest Ecosystems at the University of Alberta in Fall 2011 and Fall 2012.

    I worked on a NSERC CGS and Izaak Walton Killam scholarship-funded PhD in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta with Dr. Ellen Macdonald. My thesis was titled "Ecology of understory and below-ground communities in lodgepole pine forests under changing disturbance regimes." Download a PDF.

    I spent three months in Fall/Winter 2010/2011 in Umea, Sweden comparing below-ground properties and processes between Swedish and Canadian forest species after I received a Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement Scholarship. You can read more about my experiences by checking out my blog: http://www.canadianneinsweden.blogspot.com.

    Visit the Canopy Database Project website at: http://canopy.evergreen.edu to learn more about what I did before my PhD.