L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science - Dr. Zoe Panchen
2019

Zoe Panchen is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia in Greg Henry’s Arctic Ecology Lab. She is a botanist and ecologist with special interests in climate change, Arctic ecosystems and plant phenology (the timing of nature’s seasonal events such as the timing of flowering). Her postdoctoral research studies the relationships between Arctic plant phenology, reproductive success, and plant community structure. She is also leading a collaborative meta-analysis of the International Tundra Experiment’s long-term climate and plant phenology data to study evolutionary and life history trait patterns in the responsiveness of plants to climate change. Zoe completed her PhD in Biology at Carleton University, where she studied the impact of climate change on the flowering and fruiting times of Arctic plants in Nunavut. Her outreach work has included volunteering as an Arctic expert at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s annual collections open house and leading guided tours of Ottawa’s Dominion Arboretum. Zoe’s scientific career started out with a degree in electronic engineering and working as an engineer in the telecommunications industry before changing careers to pursue her passion for plants. She hopes that her work in engineering and biology will inspire the next generation of female scientists.