The Baecher lab at Emory’s Dept. of Environmental Science

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Welcome to the Qμest lab
Quest at Emory shield

The Qμest lab is led by Dr. J Alex Baecher (⬇️ CV). We are an applied ecological research group, broadly interested in the processes that determine the distribution of biodiversity in space and time. Our work integrates field studies, laboratory experiments, big data, cutting-edge modeling techniques, and high-performance computing to address questions related to conservation, invasions, disease, and global change.

🚨We are currently recruiting!🚨

Interested? Take a look at some of our research projects and publications below. To inquire about opportunities, reach out to Alex ✉️.

Research
Appalachian Salamander Ecology
Appalachian Salamander Ecology

Natural History, Ecology, and Conservation of Plethodontid Salamanders.

Jan 15, 2026
Biodiversity redistribution
Biodiversity redistribution

Understanding the ecology of climate-induced range shifts

Jan 10, 2026
Reptile and Amphibian Ecology
Reptile and Amphibian Ecology

Natural History, Ecology, and Conservation of Herps in the Southeastern US.

Jan 5, 2026
Forecasting ecological dynamics and disease
Forecasting ecological dynamics and disease

Understanding the pattern and process behind ecological phenomena, including population changes, invasive species, and vector-borne disease.

Mar 15, 2025
Integrated population modeling
Integrated population modeling

Integrated field data with semi-structured citizen science data to model population dynamics

Feb 15, 2025
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Publications (since 2024)
Brunno F. Oliveira, Romain Bertrand, Malin L. Pinsky, Nicolas Casajus, Barrett W. Wolfee, Brett R. Scheffers, Fabricio Villalobos, Gaël Grenouillet, Gretta T. Pecl, I-Ching Chen, J Alex Baecher, Jake A. Lawlor, Jennifer Sunday, Jérôme Murienne, Jonathan Rolland, Laura M. Thompson, Lesley T. Lancaster, Madeleine A. Rubenstein, Nikki A. Moore, R. M. W. J. Bandara, Sarah E. Diamond, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Jonathan Lenoir, Lise Comte (2026). Species range shifts often speed ahead of their modeled climatic niches. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
PDF DOI Lead: Brunno Oliveira PRESS: Science & Vie (French) PRESS: Daily Geek Show (French)
V a Askshay, J Alex Baecher, Nathan Burkett-Cadena, James T Thorson, Yesenia Sánchez, Yasmin N Tavares, Amely M Bauer, Robert Guralnick, Lindsay P Campbell (2025). Linking hosts, landscapes, and climate to advance zoonotic arbovirus forecasting. Scientific Reports.
Preprint PDF Cite Code Project DOI Lead: Akshay Anand
J Alex Baecher, V a Askshay, Robert Guralnick, Amely M Bauer, Yasmin N Tavares, Yesenia Sánchez, James T Thorson, Lindsay P Campbell (2025). Toward ecological forecasting of West Nile virus in Florida: Insights from two decades of sentinel chicken surveillance. Science of the Total Environment.
Preprint PDF Cite Code Project DOI PRESS: FMNH PRESS: the microbiologist
Luke J Evans, J Alex Baecher, Brett R Scheffers (2024). Invasion risk posed by the pet trade. As a Research Communication in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
PDF Cite DOI Project
J Alex Baecher (2024). The environmental filtering paradigm and non-filtering community assembly processes. Journal of Biogeography.
PDF Cite DOI Slides Project Supplimental Figure
David H Klinges, J Alex Baecher, Jonas J Lembrechts, Ilya M D Maclean, Jonathan Lenoir, Caroline Greiser, Michael Ashcroft, Luke J Evans, Michael R. Kearney, Juha Aalto, Isabel C Barrio, Pieter De Frenne, Joannès Guillemot, Kristoffer Hylander, Tommaso Jucker, Martin Kopecký, Miska Luoto, Martin Macek, Ivan Nijs, Josef Urban, Liesbeth Van Den Brink, Pieter Vangansbeke, Jonathan Von Oppen, Jan Wild, Julia Boike, Rafaella Canessa, Marcelo Nosetto, Alexey Rubtsov, Jhonatan Sallo-Bravo, Brett R Scheffers (2024). Proximal microclimate: Moving beyond spatiotemporalresolution improves ecological predictions. Global Ecology and Biogeography.
PDF Cite Code Dataset DOI Lead: David Klinges Supplimental Info
Jake a Lawlor, Lise Comte, Gaël Grenouillet, Jonathan Lenoir, J Alex Baecher, R M W J Bandara, Romain Bertrand, I-Ching Chen, Sarah E Diamond, Lesley T Lancaster, Nikki a Moore, Jerome Murienne, Brunno F Oliveira, Gretta T Pecl, Malin L Pinsky, Jonathan Rolland, Madeleine Rubenstein, Brett R Scheffers, Laura M Thompson, Brit Van Amerom, Fabricio Villalobos, Sarah R Weiskopf, Jennifer Sunday (2024). Mechanisms, detection and impacts of species redistribution under climate change. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
PDF Cite DOI Project Lead: Jake Lawlor List of popular press
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R sandbox: 📊 Coding Tutorials
Mixed effects models in R
Mixed effects models in R

Decision tool for creaing mixed models in R

Dec 11, 2025
Spatial Structures in Ecological Models
Spatial Structures in Ecological Models

A tutorial for incoporating Gaussian processes, spatial smoothers, or other features into ecological GLM(M)s or hierarchical models

Nov 22, 2025
Intro to R (part 1): The basics
Intro to R (part 1): The basics

A tutorial for base R usage and functions

Aug 12, 2022
See all tutorials →