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Theory of Earth's ecological systems

In the Melbourne lab we use mathematics and computational algorithms to figure out how ecological systems work. We also do experiments and collect data to test and verify our math and computer models. Current questions include how species respond to megafire, how they may be rescued by evolution, and how invasive species spread.

A more technical description: Our research is in the broad field of . We study the spatio-temporal dynamics of ecological and by developing and connecting these models to data. We're particularly interested in how processes such as competition, predation, and spatial spread interact with spatial and temporal variation in the environment and by randomness intrinsic to individuals. Heterogeneity and stochasticity (a fancy word for randomness) are the technical keywords. We work with and use , , and approaches to connect models to data.

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News

• Kaylee Rosenberger wins the Lotka award for best student poster in theoretical ecology
• Rob MacCurdy, Kendi Davies and I awarded funding to quantify insects using robotics, sensors and AI
• Scott Nordstrom awarded postdoc at U British Columbia!
• Kaylee Rosenberger awarded NSF GRFP
• Anna Spiers awarded postdoc at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab!
• Kendi Davies and I awarded NSF funding to .
• Lauren Shoemaker elected of ESA
• Anna Spiers wins award
• Lauren Shoemaker and Topher Weiss-Lehman awarded faculty positions at U Wyoming
• Geoff LegaultÌýÌýfor best student poster in theoretical ecology