Christine Sosiak

PhD Candidate – New Jersey Institute of Technology (expected graduation Spring 2023)

Professional Preparation

B.Sc. Biological Sciences – University of Calgary (CAN) w/ Robert Longair 2010-2016

B.Sc. Geology – University of Calgary 2010-2016

Originally from Canada, Christine’s passion for ants has taken her across her home province of Alberta, to Mozambique, California, and most recently, New Jersey. She received bachelor of science degrees in biology and geology from the University of Calgary while working on projects in education, ant ecology, and vertebrate paleontology. Following her undergraduate career, Christine was a visiting curator of ants at the University of California: Riverside and a biodiversity consultant for the Calgary Zoological Society. Christine is interested in the faunal turnover between the earliest ants and their modern relatives, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago. She has worked to establish quantitative links between phenotypic form and function across ants to better understand the ecological occupations of extinct lineages. In addition, she is passionate about science education and mentorship. Christine can be reached at ces43 [at] njit.edu. [CV]

Publications

Deep time extinction of largest insular ant predators and the first fossil Neoponera (Formicidae: Ponerinae) from Miocene age Dominican amber
Fiorentino, G., Lattke, J., Troya, A., Sosiak, C.E., Dong, M., Barden, P. 2023.
BMC Biology, 21, 26 [link] [pdf]

Trait-based paleontological niche prediction demonstrates deep time parallel ecological occupation in specialized ant predators
Sosiak, C.E., Janovitz, T., Perrichot, V., Timonera, J.P., & Barden, P. 2022.
bioRxiv: 2022.06.09.495514 [link] [pdf]

The first fossil replete ant worker establishes living food storage in the Eocene
Sawh, I., Bae, E., Camilo, L., Lanan, M., Lucky, A., Menezes, H.M., Fiorentino, G., Sosiak, C., Khadempour, L. and Barden, P. 2022.
bioRxiv: 2022.12.15.520604 [link] [pdf]

Non-destructive comparative evaluation of fossil amber using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy
Barden, P., Sosiak, C.E., Grajales, J., Hawkins, J., Rizzo, L., Clark, A., Gatley, S., Gatley, I., Federici, J. 2022.
PLoS One 17(3): e0262983 [link] [pdf]

Multidimensional trait morphology predicts ecology across ant lineages.
Sosiak, C.E. & Barden, P. 2021.
Functional Ecology 35: 139–152 [link] [pdf] [accepted version pdf]

First record and new host record of the obligate dulotic ant, Polyergus bicolor (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in Alberta, Canada.
Sosiak, C.E., West, M. & Glasier, J.R. 2019.
The Canadian Field-Naturalist, 133(4), 309-312 [link] [pdf]