Zechariah D Meunier

Dr. Zechariah Meunier is a quantitative ecologist and environmental data scientist. He leads the Ecological Data Science Lab at Willamette University, managing field experiments and analyzing big environmental datasets. His current work focuses on developing scientific machine learning (SciML) techniques and applying ML methods to understand ecological dynamics and to detect regime shifts in marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, kelp forests, and rocky shores. He is interested in how environmental conditions, disturbance, disease, and species interactions affect ecological communities.

Before joining Willamette University, Dr. Meunier worked for two years as a postdoctoral research associate in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. He earned his PhD in integrative biology with a minor in statistics from OSU in 2023. With fellowship support from OSU and the National Science Foundation, he studied rocky intertidal ecosystems of Oregon, California, and Nova Scotia. Following his passion for conservation, Dr. Meunier has also published research on marine protected areas and the unintended consequences of biocontrol insects for threatened wildflowers. Prior to his doctoral studies, he completed his BA in biology and environmental studies at Lawrence University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude in 2015. While at Lawrence, Dr. Meunier was awarded the Gilman Scholarship to study abroad in Madagascar and the Udall Scholarship in recognition of his commitment to environmental issues. He enjoys birding, backpacking, and playing with his cats, Felix and Kamala.