people
John Benning
he/him
Principal Investigator
jbenning@cornell.edu
John received his undergraduate degree in Anthropology from UNC-Chapel Hill, then spent a couple years traveling the country doing field biology before starting his PhD at the University of Minnesota with Dave Moeller. He worked with Christopher Weiss-Lehman and Ruth Hufbauer during his postdoc, then started the lab at Cornell in July 2025. He is an evolutionary ecologist broadly interested in the evolutionary processes that mediate ecological patterns. He lives in Ithaca with his wife, Anna, and their children, Theo and Torin. When he’s not chasing the kids down the block, John likes to grow plants, attempt various DIY projects, and play drums.
Maddie Ore
Postdoctoral Researcher
mjo234@cornell.edu
Maddie is an evolutionary field biologist who uses genomic variation across space and time to explore local adaptation and species responses to rapid environmental change. She received her undergraduate degree at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, a Master’s degree at the University of British Columbia with Darren Irwin, and a PhD from Cornell University with Mike Webster. Outside of work, she loves knitting, hiking, and really any excuse to be outdoors.
Joanie Cha
they/them
PhD Student
jc3922@cornell.edu
Joanie is a first-year PhD student who combines modeling, observation, and experimentation to understand the niches and phenology of invasive plants at the community scale. They received their undergraduate degree from Williams College (Massachusetts), where they conducted honors research on understory invasives and nitrogen addition with Allison Gill. After graduating, they worked as a research technician at Indiana University in Jennifer Lau’s evolutionary ecology lab. In addition to research, Joanie loves playing and coaching ultimate frisbee, cooking, outdoor recreation, and line dancing!
Ella Mancino
Research Specialist (jointly with the Agrawal Lab)
emm359@cornell.edu
Ella received her B.S. from Cornell University in May 2026, where she conducted her honors thesis in the Agrawal lab focused on the impacts of pollination and herbivory on fitness of the greater fringed gentian (Gentianopsis crinita). Ella is a botanist and plant ecologist intrigued by fundamental questions in ecology and evolutionary biology: How does herbivory mediate sympatric speciation? What maintains species boundaries among overlapping conspecifics? How do biotic interactions maintain species range limits? Ella continues to study the greater fringed gentian, investigating how herbivory may both directly and indirectly impact the fitness of G. crinita, leading to local adaptation. Within this same system, Ella is also working to understand the demography and population genetics of G. crinita and to resolve phylogenetic relationships within Gentianopsis. In her free time, Ella enjoys ultra-marathon running and vegan baking!
Nia Delardi
Undergraduate Researcher
nmd78@cornell.edu
Nia is a sophomore in CALS studying Biological Science with a concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She is interested in population ecology as well as evolutionary genetics in the context of climate change. She is also pursuing a minor in Marine Biology. She intends to earn a PhD in Marine Ecology or similar.
Sean Kim
Undergraduate Researcher
sk2935@cornell.edu
Sean is a third-year undergraduate student from California. He is interested in distributional ecology and systematics, with a particular passion for scorpion diversity in North America.
Emma Poplyk
Undergraduate Researcher
elp68@cornell.edu
Emma is a senior cognitive science major with a cognitive neuroscience concentration. She also has minors in microbial science, anthropology, and psychology. She is interested in how organisms respond to environmental stressors.
Friends of the lab
Jacob Landis
Genomics Wizard 🧙, Cornell University
jacoblandis.com
Gregor Siegmund
Assistant researcher, University of California, Los Angeles
gregor-fausto.github.io
Lab alumni
Anna Cohen
Lab Manager, 2026
Currently: graduate school at U. Toronto