About Me (CV)
I am currently a PhD student at the University of Florida, pursuing a degree in Interdisciplinary Ecology with a concentration in wildlife ecology and conservation and a certificate in tropical conservation and development. My research focuses on the impacts of climate and land use change on the distribution of tropical epiphytes and their associated microhabitats. Prior to beginning my PhD, I received a B.S. in Biology from Davidson College, North Carolina in 2020. Throughout my undergraduate studies, my research focused largely on the impacts of climate and human disturbance on species distributions, and took me to around the world, from North Carolina, to the Peruvian Amazon and Puerto Rico, to the tropical rainforests of Australia. With an increasing curiosity about the impact of microclimates on species’ distributions, I completed an MPhil at the he University of Cambridge, UK in 2022, where I studied the impact of microclimate change on three-dimensional distributions of bromeliads in Trinidad.
Outside of my research I enjoy hiking, nature photography, gardening, traveling, and running.
News
Chasing Orchids: Lydia Soifer ’20 Earns Smith Scholarship
“Lydia Soifer’s favorite moments usually involve a forest. From waking up to the cries of howler monkeys in the Amazon Rainforest, to hiking to the top of a mountain to get to a cloud forest in Australia, she feels joy in the midst of trees.”
Lydia Soifer 