Personal profile
Education
1997 Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
1991 BS in Biology, with High Honors, University of Michigan
Additional Training
2010 Short Course in Environmental Genomics, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
2009 The National Academies/HHMI Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education in Biology
Professional Information
Population, community and evolutionary ecology; life-history evolution; disease ecology; limnology
We focus on questions at the interface of population, community and evolutionary ecology. At its core, our research focuses on how biodiversity arises, how is it maintained, and what is its functional significance from the scale of organismal traits to ecosystems. Our lab focuses on three related areas of inquiry:
- How do ecological and evolutionary processes interact to shape life-history variation?
- How do feedbacks between genetic and species diversity influence metacommunity dynamics?
- How do ecological and evolutionary processes interact to shape the distribution and abundance of disease?
Honors & Awards
2018-2020 Lynn M. Martin Professorial Scholar
2017 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2016 Fellow, Ecological Society of America
2015 Sustaining Fellow, Association for the Sciences of Limnology & Oceanography
2015-2018 University Scholar, University of Illinois
2014-2015 Committee on Institutional Cooperation Academic Leadership Program
2009-2010 National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences
2009 Campus award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
2009 Lynn M. Martin Award for Distinguished Women Teachers
2006-2007 Helen Corley Petit Scholar
2003 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
2002-2003 James A. Hagan Teaching Fellow, LAS, University of Illinois
Various List of teachers ranked as excellent by their students, UIUC
(2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
1999 R. L. Lindeman Award for the outstanding paper written by a young aquatic scientist, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
Office Address
515 Morrill Hall
505 S. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
Office Phone
217-244-2139
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Characterizing the Microbiome and Prevalence of Wolbachia in Culex pipiens Complex and Culex restuans Mosquitoes in the Midwest United States
Cloud, R. E., Irwin, P., Muturi, E. J. & Cáceres, C. E., Apr 1 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Microbial Ecology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Testing mechanisms driving the increased susceptibility of Daphnia to disease when exposed to Chaoborus cues
Hearon, L. E. & Cáceres, C. E., Jan 1 2026, In: Journal of Plankton Research. 48, 1, fbaf072.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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The Role of Host Immunity and the Environment in Seasonal Disease Dynamics
Kosmacher, G. K., Max, D., Rapti, Z., Caceres, C. E. & Stewart Merrill, T. E., Feb 2026, In: Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 88, 2, 18.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Influence of melatonin on the successful infection of Daphnia dentifera by Metschnikowia bicuspidata
Hughes, A. G., Cullum, J. E., Fredericks, M. J., Wilson, P. J., Schwarzenberger, A. & Cáceres, C. E., Feb 2025, In: Ecosphere. 16, 2, e70192.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Reviving Élie Metschnikoff's Monospora: The obligately parasitic yeast Australozyma monospora sp. nov
Lachance, M. A., Cáceres, C. E., Fredericks, M. J., Duffy, M. A. & Merrill, T. E. S., 2025, In: FEMS yeast research. 25, foaf041.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
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Data for Characterizing the microbiome and prevalence of Wolbachia in Culex pipiens complex and Culex restuans mosquitoes in the Midwest United States
Cloud, R. (Creator), Irwin, P. (Creator), Muturi, E. (Creator) & Caceres, C. E. (Creator), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Apr 8 2026
DOI: 10.13012/B2IDB-4794358_V1
Dataset
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Data for Disentangling the host traits that shape susceptibility and infection in a Daphnia- pathogen system
Wilson, P. J. (Creator), Westphal, G. (Creator), Stewart Merrill, T. (Creator) & Caceres, C. E. (Creator), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Apr 10 2026
DOI: 10.13012/B2IDB-7248601_V1
Dataset
Honors & Recognition
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Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
Caceres, C. (Recipient), 2003
Prize: Prize/Award