Shoshanah Jacobs, University of Guelph

Research

Climate Change Adaptation Ecosystem Services Science and Technology Visual Art as Education Science Fiction Literature as prophecy Human Behaviour Change Climate Change Adaptation Ecosystem Services Science and Technology Visual Art as Education Science Fiction Literature as prophecy Human Behaviour Change

Latest papers

Assessment of leaf-litter invertebrate biodiversity using high throughput sequencing.
PloS one · 2026
Are Ecosystem Services Replaceable by Technology Yet? Bio-Inspired Technologies for Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities.
Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025 · first author
A Call for Bio-Inspired Technologies: Promises and Challenges for Ecosystem Service Replacement.
Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025 · senior author

All 10 publications

Latest funding

Farming the Future: A Multidisciplinary Lens to Climate Adaptation in Agriculture
SSHRC · 2025 · Co-investigator
$43,318
Exploring the Impact of Knowledge Waste Reduction on Municipal Waste Reduction in Panniqtuuq, Nunavut
SSHRC · 2024 · Co-investigator
$30,970
Reducing Canada's Plastics Waste: Exploring the Potential of a Contextual Engineering Approach to Engineering Plastics Design
SSHRC · 2023 · Co-investigator
$41,789

All 5 grants and awards

10 publications.

01

Assessment of leaf-litter invertebrate biodiversity using high throughput sequencing.

Castillo AH, Jacobs S, Steinke D, Smith MA

PloS one2026

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0347811 PMID: 42623401

02

Are Ecosystem Services Replaceable by Technology Yet? Bio-Inspired Technologies for Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities.

Jacobs S, Zhang J, Wolf E, Porter E, Bohn SJ, Sparks AM, Eggermont M, Summers M, Rivera Cárdenas CI, Clitheroe H, Gillis D, Smith MA, Benessaiah K, Jones A, Davies A, Helms M, Bazely D, Lipton M, Dowhaniuk D, van Vierssen Trip N, Zampaki N, Karpouzou P, Wanieck K

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)2025First author

DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics10110784 PMID: 41294456

03

A Call for Bio-Inspired Technologies: Promises and Challenges for Ecosystem Service Replacement.

Wanieck K, Smith MA, Porter E, Zhang J, Dowhaniuk D, Jones A, Gillis D, Lipton M, Myrie MH, Bazely D, Eggermont M, Summers M, Smylitopoulos C, Cárdenas CIR, Wolf E, Karpouzou P, Zampaki N, Clitheroe H, Davies A, Castillo AH, Helms M, Benessaiah K, Jacobs S

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics10090578 PMID: 41002812

04

Biomimetics for Sustainable Developments-A Literature Overview of Trends.

Jatsch AS, Jacobs S, Wommer K, Wanieck K

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)2023

DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics8030304 PMID: 37504192

05

Tracking the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic-related debris on wildlife using digital platforms.

Ammendolia J, Saturno J, Bond AL, O'Hanlon NJ, Masden EA, James NA, Jacobs S

The Science of the total environment2022Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157614 PMID: 35901900

06

The Education Pipeline of Biomimetics and Its Challenges.

Jacobs S, Eggermont M, Helms M, Wanieck K

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)2022First author

DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics7030093 PMID: 35892363

07

Food supply and individual quality influence seabird energy expenditure and reproductive success.

Kahane-Rapport SR, Whelan S, Ammendolia J, Hatch SA, Elliott KH, Jacobs S

Oecologia2022Senior author

DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05191-y PMID: 35716234

08

Frequency, topic, and preferences: Tracking student engagement with several modalities of student-instructor contact in a first-year course.

Bingham BE, Rea V, Robertson L, Smith MA, Jacobs S

FEBS open bio2022Senior author

DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.13315 PMID: 34656071

09

An emerging source of plastic pollution: Environmental presence of plastic personal protective equipment (PPE) debris related to COVID-19 in a metropolitan city.

Ammendolia J, Saturno J, Brooks AL, Jacobs S, Jambeck JR

Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116160 PMID: 33316501

10

Biomimetics: teaching the tools of the trade.

Wanieck K, Ritzinger D, Zollfrank C, Jacobs S

FEBS open bio2020Senior author

DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.12963 PMID: 32860736

Farming the Future: A Multidisciplinary Lens to Climate Adaptation in Agriculture

Co-investigatorSSHRC2025Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Jones, Andria

Keywords: climate adaptation; farming; mental health; wellbeing; climate futures

$43,318

Exploring the Impact of Knowledge Waste Reduction on Municipal Waste Reduction in Panniqtuuq, Nunavut

Co-investigatorSSHRC2024Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Van Gulck, Jamie

Keywords: Material waste; Knowledge waste; Waste reduction; Pilot project; Nunavut; Municipal solid and liquid waste; Truth and Reconciliation; Inuit; Environment; Sustainability

$30,970

Reducing Canada's Plastics Waste: Exploring the Potential of a Contextual Engineering Approach to Engineering Plastics Design

Co-investigatorSSHRC2023Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Hird, Myra

Keywords: plastics; Contextual Engineering; waste reduction technological design; engineering training; waste management; waste reduction; expertise; social context

$41,789

The manufactured ecosystem

Principal investigatorSSHRC2022New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration

Principal investigators: Jacobs, Shoshanah

Keywords: Climate Change Adaptation; Ecosystem Services; Science and Technology; Visual Art as Education ; Science Fiction Literature as prophecy ; Human Behaviour Change

$125,000

The manufactured ecosystem

Principal investigatorSSHRC2022New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration

Principal investigators: Jacobs, Shoshanah

Keywords: Climate Change Adaptation Ecosystem Services Science and Technology Visual Art as Education Science Fiction Literature as prophecy Human Behaviour Change

$125,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Visual arts and media arts
Epidemiology and Sociobehaviour
Rural Geography
Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Arts

Co-authors at University of Guelph, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Andria Jones

Epidemiology and Sociobehaviour

2 shared papers, latest 2025

Karina Benessaiah

Rural Geography

2 shared papers, latest 2025

Christina Smylitopoulos

Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Arts

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their SSHRC grant from 2022

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Climate Change Adaptation Dear Professor Jacobs, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Assessment of leaf-litter invertebrate biodiversity using high throughput sequencing." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your SSHRC-funded project "The manufactured ecosystem" (2022), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]