Benjamin Martin – University of Amsterdam
Benjamin Martin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theoretical and Computational Ecology at the University of Amsterdam. Benjamin uses theory and data-driven approaches to identify the rules that govern how animals interact with each other and their environments and the consequences of these rules for ecological dynamics.
David Storch – Charles University, Prague
David Storch is a professor at the Department of ecology, Faculty of Science, and the Center for Theoretical Study, Charles University in Prague. Trained as a field ornithologist, he subsequently moved into more theoretical ecological disciplines, namely macroecology and biodiversity research, even though he still does some field work (mainly in Africa). He is interested in bioidiversity patterns in space and time, and recently he is working on a general equilibrium theory of biodiversity dynamics. He is associate editor of Ecology Letters and Global Ecology and Biogeography, and the president of Czech Society for Ecology.
Maja Schlüter – Stockholm Resilience Centre
Maja Schlüter is Professor of Social-ecological Systems Research at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. Together with the seslink team (seslink.org) she studies the social-ecological processes that give rise to regime shifts, adaptation or transformation, such as the collapse of the Baltic Cod, restoration of a turbid lake or responses of Mexican fisheries to environmental change. In her work, she combines in-depth field studies with agent-based modelling to identify causal mechanisms of change, better understand social-ecological interdependence and the multi-level and dynamic nature of social-ecological systems. Her research has been funded by two ERC grants for the development of middle-range theory and an interdisciplinary research environment to study causation in social-ecological systems.
Sara Mitri – University of Lausanne
Sara Mitri is Assistant Professor, working in microbiology at the University of Lausanne. She leads a group that studies ecosystems of microbes, in particular how different species of microbes interact and how these interactions evolve over time. Having started her career in computer science, however, she has worked in many different areas of science, including the evolution of deception in robots. Perhaps because of her diverse background, she strongly believes in combining different research methodologies in her work, including mathematical modeling, computer simulations and laboratory experiments.
Stephanie Kramer-Schadt – Leibnitz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin
Stephanie Kramer-Schadt is Professor for Applied Animal Ecology at TU Berlin and leads the Department of Ecological Dynamics at the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo- and Wildlife Research. Her interest lies in combining field work, data-driven and predictive approaches for wildlife conservation and management in the Anthropocene. She uses spatially-explicit, individual-based models to assess population dynamics and connectivity, including disease spread, with the ultimate aim to assess the viability of wildlife populations under environmental change.
Otso Ovaskainen – University of Jyväskylä
Otso Ovaskainen is Academy Professor at University of Jyväskylä (Finland), also Research Director at University of Helsinki (Finland) and a Visiting Professor at NTNU Trondheim (Norway). Together with Dr. Nerea Abrego, he leads the Predictive Community Ecology research group consisting of ca. 30 researchers. Prof. Ovaskainen is especially interested about the interface between empirical and theoretical ecology. He develops methods in statistical ecology, mathematical ecology and bioinformatics, and applies these methods to learn about community ecology, spatial ecology, movement ecology, population genetics and evolutionary biology. In statistical ecology, his main research line is joint species distribution modelling, especially hierarchical modelling of species communities (HMSC). In mathematical ecology, his main research line is agent-based modelling, including both the development of mathematical methods as well as the use of models to advance theory. In bioinformatics, his main research line is automated methods for species identification from DNA, audio and image data.
Valery Forbes – Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Valery E. Forbes is Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science at Florida Atlantic University (since August 2022). Previously, she served as Dean of the College of Biological Sciences at University of Minnesota (2015-2022), Director of the School of Biological Sciences at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2011-2015), and Founding Head of the Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change at Roskilde University, Denmark (2006-2011). Dr. Forbes received her Ph.D. in Coastal Oceanography from Stony Brook University. Specific research topics include population ecology and modeling, fate and effects of toxic chemicals in sediments, and ecological risk assessment. Dr. Forbes has served on the Danish Natural Sciences Research Council, the European Research Council, NATO’s Environmental Security Panel, and as ad hoc reviewer for numerous funding agencies from various countries. She is on the editorial board of several international journals and provides scientific advice to the private and public sectors. In 2018 she was awarded a prestigious Helmholtz International Fellowship.