Dr Lauchlan H. Fraser was recently appointed the Canada Research Chair in Community and Ecosystem Ecology at the University College of the Cariboo. He has published over twenty-five scholarly papers and is on the editorial boards of Applied Vegetation Science and the Ohio Journal of Science. Dr Fraser's research group examines the processes that organize plant communities and the functional consequences of different emergent patterns on ecosystem functions. His lab focuses on ecosystems that are among those most affected by anthropogenic and natural disturbance, namely freshwater wetlands and