.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
Editorial Board - Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Click on an editor to view their full profile.
Executive Editor: Professor Rob Freckleton, Sheffield University, UK
Editor: Dr Bob O'Hara, Biodiversität und Klima, Germany
Assistant Editor: Samantha Ponton, British Ecological Society
Editorial Board:
Barbara Anderson, James Cook University
Luca Börger, INRA & CNRS, France
Michael Bunce, Murdoch University, Australia
Stéphane Dray, University of Lyon, France
Matthew Davey, University of Cambridge, UK
Dan Faith, Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
Olivier Gimenez, CNRS, France
Luca Giuggioli, University of Bristol, UK
Jarrod Hadfield, University of Oxford
Thomas Hansen, University of Oslo, Norway
Luke Harmon, University of Idaho, USA
Dave Hodgson, University of Exeter, UK
Nick Isaac, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK
Darren Kriticos, CSIRO, Australia
Carolyn Kurle, UC San Diego
Erica Leder, University of Turku, Finland
Jessica Metcalf, University of Oxford, UK
Jana McPherson, Calgary Zoological Society and Simon Fraser University, Canada
Jane Molofsky, University of Vermont, USA
Helene Muller-Landau, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama
Tamara Münkemüller, CNRS, Université J. Fourier
David Murrell, University College London, UK
Shinichi Nakagawa, University of Otago, New Zealand
Jari Oksanen, University of Oulu, Finland
David Orme, Imperial College London, UK
Emmanuel Paradis, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France
Pedro Peres-Neto, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Oliver Pybus, University of Oxford, UK
Satu Ramula, Abo Akademi University, Finland
Sean Rands, University of Bristol, UK
Mark Rees, University of Sheffield, UK
Liam Revell, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
Matthew Spencer, University of Liverpool, UK
Andy Tatem, University of Florida, USA
Justin Travis, University of Aberdeen, UK
David Warton, The University of New South Wales, Australia
Nigel Yoccoz, Institute of Biology, University of Tromsø, Norway
Editorial Profiles - Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Rob Freckleton, University of Sheffield
Executive Editor
My research focuses on modelling population and community dynamics, and testing these using observational and comparative data. I have a range of interests including plant population ecology, modelling plant populations and predicting weed population dynamics; evolutionary ecology, phylogenetic comparative methodology and its application to ecological problems; theoretical ecology and statistical methodology.
Bob O'Hara, Biodiversität und Klima
Senior Editor
I alternate between being a statistician, and ecologist and an evolutionary biologist. At present, my work is mainly looking at species distributions and improving the models for them, so that we can predict how they will shift under climate change. I also do work on community dynamics and have a continued interest in population and quantitative genetics. Most of my work in these areas is statistical, and I usually take a Bayesian approach because I find it too difficult to do anything else.
Samantha Ponton, British Ecological Society
E-mail: coordinator@methodsinecologyandevolution.org
Assistant Editor
I deal with the online manuscript submission process, as well as keeping the website and online tools up to date, and helping with marketing and maintaining our social media presence. My university studies focused mainly on general biology and pharmacology, and I have a few years’ experience of working in healthcare journals publishing.
Barb Anderson, James Cook University
My research background encompasses community structure, species range margin dynamics and biological responses to climate change. I am particularly interested in understanding the relative roles of abiotic and biotic factors in determining species distributions in time and space. I frequently apply my research to questions on conservation prioritization and ecosystem services.
Luca Börger, INRA & CNRS
I am broadly interested in behavioural, population and community ecology, including management applications and methodological aspects, with a special interest in the role of animal movements across these scales. Recently I have also become interested in exploring the functional traits underlying plant-herbivore community dynamics, with the overall aim to understand the mechanisms driving biodiversity dynamics in human-dominated systems. To address these questions I use a combination of theory and observational or experimental approaches.
Mike Bunce, Murdoch University
My research interests and expertise lie in the ability to isolate and characterise DNA from old and degraded biological substrates, such as fossil bone, sediment, eggshell and faecal material. Ancient (and degraded) DNA can provide significant insights into the evolutionary history, extinction processes and past biodiversity of many species. My research is now heavily focused on using next generation DNA sequencing and applying these technologies to a variety of fields, including conservation biology, diet determination, disease detection, forensics, palaeontology and archaeology.
Stéphane Dray, University of Lyon
I'm a statistical ecologist. My work consists of developing novel statistical methods for analyzing biological data, with a special emphasis on multivariate analysis and spatial statistics. I'm mainly interested in understanding the role of multiple factors (e.g., species traits, environment) that influence the (spatial) structure of ecological communities and control beta diversity. I'm also the contributor/author of several R packages.
Matthew Davey, University of Cambridge
I specialise in plant physiology and advanced biochemical profiling, a process known as metabolomics. My main interest is measuring diversity in metabolic traits and how this can influence plant population spread, especially for natural communities in a changing world. I am also interested in bioinformatic pipelines, incorporating environmental information with biochemical trait measurements derived from laboratory and field experiments.
Dan Faith, Australian Museum
My research integrates biodiversity and systematics, including "biodiversity informatics". Much of my research is concerned with theory and applications of quantitative biodiversity assessment. This work extends from the scale of genes to whole countries. Special emphasis has been given to the links from biodiversity assessment to sustainability and economics. Applied biodiversity research also includes work on methods for detecting environmental impacts. A phylogenetic component of my biodiversity research arises through investigations of "phylogenetic diversity" and conservation.
Olivier Gimenez, CNRS
I have a background in Biostatistics and I'm mainly interested in developing statistical methods for population biology. My main research topic is the study of animal demography for populations in the wild. Data collected in the field being noisy observations of demographic process (survival, reproduction and dispersal), I have a particular interest in hidden structure modelling via Bayesian hierarchical approaches. My research often involves capture-recapture methods and structured population models. I focus on issues in population ecology with the impact of climate change and human pressures on population dynamics, in evolutionary ecology with the study of life-history strategies and in conservation biology with the management of large mammals.
Luca Giuggioli, University of Bristol
My research focuses on developing quantitative tools to predict observed spatio-temporal ecological patterns from the underlying individual local interaction mechanisms. I generally borrow mathematical approaches developed for out-of-equilibrium statistical physics systems, but often end up creating new ones. I am particularly interested in developing general theories on animal foraging processes and the formation of territorial and home range patterns, as well as many other processes where individual agents move and interact collectively.
Jarrod Hadfield, University of Oxford
I am an evolutionary biologist working mainly in the area of quantitative genetics. I use a combination of theory, statistical inference and experimentation in order to address questions regarding the form of natural selection and the nature of heritable variation. Most of my empirical work is carried out on wild populations of bird, but my theoretical and statistical work covers a broader taxonomic range.
Thomas Hansen, University of Oslo
I am a theoretical biologist with general interests in evolutionary biology. Most of my current research takes place at the interface between evolutionary genetics and trait adaptation. I have interests in a number of methodological and foundational issues in evolutionary theory. These include comparative methods, evolutionary time-series analysis, conceptualization and measurement of selection, evolvability, adaptation and fitness, conceptualization and measurement of genetic architecture including epistasis and pleiotropy, evolutionary quantitative genetics, and the relationship between micro- and macroevolution. I have a particular interest in measurement theory, which is a mathematical/philosophical/practical field concerned with the meaningfulness of quantification in the form of numbers, models, and statistics.
Luke Harmon, University of Idaho
My research focuses on developing new comparative methods and applying them to large phylogenetic datasets. Ongoing progress in building the tree of life provides a rare opportunity to learn about the dynamics of diversification through time and across clades. Current projects in my lab are focused on testing hypotheses about trait evolution, diversification, and adaptive radiation using statitical comparative methods. I am also interested in the interface between quantitative genetics and comparative methods.
Dave Hodgson, University of Exeter
I am a quantitative ecologist, with a research focus in two fields. I study the maintenance of phenotypic variation in natural systems, such as viruses in insects, antiherbivore metabolites in plants, life history variation in Daphnia, and niche specialists in bacterial microcosms. I also study the robustness of empirical models of population and community dynamics, with application to strategies of conservation management and the sustainable exploitation of natural resources. My overarching goal is to help lend ecology a predictive framework, and to explain (and conserve) biodiversity. I also maintain a sideline in the use of modern statistical analyses for hypothesis testing in the fields of evolutionary, population and environmental ecology.
Nick Isaac, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
I am interested in questions about the abundance, distributions, diversity and extinction risk of species. My research generally involves data that are structured in space, time and/or phylogenetically. I started out using the traditional approach in macroecology of ‘one value per species’, but increasingly I use multilevel models to explore patterns along multiple axes (space, time, species) and at a range of scales. Much of my work has involved developing new methods and/or comparing their statistical properties with existing approaches. Historically I used data on mammals and other vertebrates, but these days I work mostly on insects.
Erica Leder, University of Turku
At the basic level my research focuses on the evolution of the phenotype. This can take many forms from the most obvious outward appearance such as coloration to physiological phenotypes such as development rate or response to stress. The unifying objective in my research is to identify the mechanisms of phenotypic divergence of the observed phenotypes. I use a variety of molecular methods in my research since particular methods tend to be suited for specific systems, typically though, I am employing “–omics” approaches: genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics.
Darren Kriticos, CSIRO
I am an ecological modeler with interests centered on theoretical and applied invasion ecology. My research methods include bioclimatic niche modeling, process-based population dynamics, dispersal dynamics and bioeconomics. I use these tools to address questions of concerning biosecurity, biological control, strategic and tactical pest management, pest risk modeling, climate change adaptation and sustainable agriculture. My current interests are concentrated on: developing improved methods to assess the goodness of fit of potential distribution models for invasive species; using bioclimatic models to estimate economic and other impacts of pests and invasive species; and developing linked phenology and dispersal models.
Carolyn Kurle, UC San Diego
I am interested in several aspects of marine and terrestrial vertebrate ecology and I use stable isotope biogeochemistry to answer questions about trophic interactions, foraging ecology, niche partitioning, and animal movement patterns. I am also interested in studying the impacts of human perturbations such as pollution and invasion on ecological communities.
Jana McPherson, University of Dalhousie
My research interests revolve around species ranges: figuring out where they are and how they change, what limits them, how humans affect and alter them and what impact that has on biodiversity patterns, ecosystem services and, in particular, resilience. I work in terrestrial as well as marine systems at local to global scales. To date, my primary tools have been species distribution models, but also traditional fieldwork, the capture of traditional knowledge, large collaborative database compilations and the development of analytical methods to extract quantitative information from anecdotal and opportunistically collected data.
Jessica Metcalf, University of Oxford
I am interested in applied questions in infectious disease biology, as well as more general questions in plant ecology and life-history evolution. For example, how will changing human demography change infectious disease incidence and spread? What drives dynamics of rubella through space and time, and what does this indicate for vaccine control? What are the key influences on dynamics of malaria inside the bloodstream of mice, and what does this imply for control as well as evolution of the parasite? When should reproduction occur in plants where reproduction is fatal (from an evolutionary perspective)? How long do trees live and what does this imply for coexistence in diverse rainforests, and rates of carbon turnover? My research uses data from a range of sources, and an array of statistical and modeling tools, often involving a structured population model.
Jane Molofsky, University of Vermont
I am a plant ecologist interested in the dynamics and structure of populations and communities. In my research, I combine experimental and theoretical approaches. My current research focuses on the predicted dynamics of weedy populations and the evolution of invasiveness in introduced plant populations.
Helene Muller-Landau, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
My research is centred in plant community and ecosystem ecology, especially of tropical forests. I’m broadly interested in the patterns, causes, and consequences of plant diversity. Particular interests include seed size and seed dispersal, plant interactions with natural enemies, tree life history strategies, and forest carbon budgets. I use a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, with the latter often involving analyses of large observational datasets. I have developed and tested new analytical tools and models as part of my research.
Tamara Münkemüller, CNRS, Universite J. Fourier
I am interested in a range of topics in evolutionary ecology, community phylogenetics and theoretical ecology. My current projects seek to better understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that drive community assembly. Statistical analyses of large-scale datasets and process-based simulation models form my toolbox for studying these questions.
David Murrell, University College London
I have a broad range of interests within ecology and evolution, but mostly consider ecological and evolutionary dynamics that are driven by interactions between organisms. The central theme that unites all of my work to date is understanding the processes that maintain high levels of biodiversity we see in nature. I have used stochastic models and mathematical approximations to generate hypotheses and predictions about populations and communities (especially plants), and I am now starting to challenge these ideas with individual-based datasets from natural communities. Since most of my theory is spatially explicit, I have concentrated on plant communities; but the techniques in moment closure I have helped develop allow mathematical insight into models that could once only be simulated, and are applicable to a wide range of ecological and evolutionary problems.
Shinichi Nakagawa, University of Otago
I'm a behavioural ecologist working on diverse questions. My group extensively uses meta-analytic and comparative approaches along with empirical work on wild and laboratory populations. I'm interested in inter-disciplinary methodological exchanges, i.e. brining methodologies used in other fields to the fields of ecology and evolution.
Jari Oksanen, University of Oulu
I'm a plant community ecologist with a keen interest in ecological statistics. I have a background in lichenology, but currently work mainly with data on northern vegetation and aquatic communities. I'm an active R developer, and have a special interest in multivariate methods, various diversity models, spatial analysis and the application of community null models.
David Orme, Imperial College
I am interested in a range of questions about the geographic and phylogenetic distribution of biodiversity. I typically use broad macroecological and macroevolutionary approaches to explore the factors associated with levels of diversity. Much of my recent work has been based on global vertebrate diversity, where both range maps and phylogenetic associations are well enough known to support detailed analyses. I am also interested in investigating the dynamics of species ranges and how they are controlled by species traits and the environment.
.jpg)
Emmanuel Paradis, Analysis of Phylogenetics and Evolution
My research is centred on the investigation of evolutionary processes with phylogenetic trees at different scales of time and of biological complexity. Evolution connects all living beings through ancestor–descendant relationships with modification of their traits. My approach is to collect data and analyse them to test hypotheses on the dynamics of these relationships. Since 1997, the development of statistical and computing tools for these analyses has been an important component of my work. My contributions may be grouped in three topics: phylogenetic diversification, phylogenetic analysis of comparative data and coalescence and past population dynamics. My past research was on population dynamics of small mammals and of birds, chaos in (meta)population models, and the evolution of dispersal.
Pedro Peres-Neto, Université du Québec à Montréal
My research interests lie at the interface of community and quantitative ecology, incorporating principles from a diverse suite of areas including spatial ecology, multivariate statistics, aquatic ecology, ecomorphology and evolution. Examining the roles of multiple ecological factors in driving species distributions and community structure relies heavily on quantitative methods to detect statistical patterns in data. I am interested in developing and assessing the performance of quantitative frameworks where different sources of information based on observational and experimental approaches can be embedded and analyzed jointly.
Oliver Pybus, University of Oxford
I am interested in the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of infectious diseases, particularly pathogenic RNA viruses. My current research concerns (i) the molecular epidemiology and epidemic history of HIV and the hepatitis C virus, (ii) viral adaptation and natural selection, (iii) the evolutionary behaviour of influenza, (iv) the evolution of endogenous retroviruses, and (v) phylogenetic and population genetic methods of gene sequence analysis. More generally, I am interested in topics at the interface between ecology and evolution such as adaptive radiation, speciation, and molecular ecology.
Satu Ramula, Abo Akademi University
I am a plant ecologist interested in applying quantitative methods to ecological and evolutionary questions from species interactions to management. My research focuses on understanding patterns and processes in plant population dynamics with special emphasis on invasive species and their management. One of my research aims is to produce management solutions for invaders based on modelling and experimental approaches. I also study demographic models, such as deterministic and stochastic structured models, and their applicability for small demographic data sets.
.jpg)
Sean Rands, University of Bristol
I'm a behavioural ecologist, and am fascinated by the intricacies of the behavioural and life history decision-making processes involved when organisms interact with each other and with the environment, which I test with a range of theoretical and empirical techniques. These interactions include the social interactions between members of groups, the intimate relationships between parasites and hosts, pollinators and plants, predators and prey, and between parents and their offspring.
Mark Rees, University of Sheffield
I am interested in a wide range of ecological and evolutionary problems. The methods I use range from simple analytical models for single and multi-species population dynamics, through to evolutionarily stable strategy models for the evolution of plant traits and more complex structured models, in particular integral projection models. These more complex models allow individuals to be characterised by multiple traits, competition between individuals and stochasticity in the environment. These models have been used to address a range of life-history problems using field data to parameterise the models. In a more applied setting I have used models to explore the dynamics and control of invasive weeds. In addition to this I am also interested in statistical estimation problems related to the analysis and interpretation of ecological experiments.
Liam Revell, University of Massachusetts Boston
My research is in two main areas. The first is the development and application of new computer-based phylogeny methods - usually for analyzing, manipulating, and visualizing comparative data and phylogenetic trees. Evolution is a historical discipline and in many cases our best resource for testing hypotheses about evolutionary change over vast timescales, such as millions, or tens of millions of years, is phylogeny-based comparative methods. My second main research area is the evolution, ecology, and conservation of tropical reptiles, particularly in the Caribbean. I am interested in all aspects of evolutionary ecology of reptiles in the neotropics, but especially rapid evolution of populations and species due to global change.
Matthew Spencer, University of Liverpool
I am interested in using stochastic models to understand community dynamics and molecular evolution. In particular, I want to work with models that are simple, flexible, and can be applied to real data sets. Recent projects include semi-parametric models of coral reef dynamics, and covarion models for detecting changes in evolutionary processes.
Andy Tatem, University of Florida
I study how local, regional and global patterns of human movement affect the movement of pests, pathogens and vector species, such as imported malaria and disease-carrying invasive mosquitoes. I also research the application of satellite-imagery based solutions to public health problems and the optimization of population and urbanization mapping for malaria burden estimation. I am interested in how the increasing mobility of humans and growth in global trade are reducing geographical barriers to the movement of pathogens and exotic species.
Justin Travis, University of Aberdeen
I'm interested in a broad range of questions related to spatial ecological, evolutionary and genetic dynamics. A particular recent focus has been on developing approaches that link population ecology with evolutionary processes (eco-evolutionary dynamics) and also include the genetics. Most of my work utilises individual-based simulation models, but I also now work with mathematical ecologists, seeking approaches to make the models run faster at large spatial extents (for large numbers of individuals), and with statisticians, exploring approaches for fitting IBMs to different data sources.
David Warton, The University of New South Wales
My research is at the interface between ecology and statistics. Statistics is a rapidly changing field, and modern methods enable important ecological research questions to be answered that were previously difficult or impossible to address. I develop new data analysis methodologies, and increase awareness in ecology and related disciplines of existing methodologies. Particular interests include multivariate analysis, especially model-based approaches for studying the environment-community association; species distribution modelling, especially model selection approaches; and estimation and inference about allometric lines.
Nigel Yoccoz, University of Tromsø
I am a statistical ecologist studying structure and dynamics of populations to ecosystems, particularly in northern areas and in connection with climatic change. I have broad research interests in how statistics can contribute to progress in science and society.
.jpg)
Graziella Iossa, British Ecological Society
Assistant Editor (currently on maternity leave)
I oversee the management of the journal, deal with the online submission process of the manuscripts and lead the development of the website and online tools. I am a zoologist and behavioural ecologist by training, have an academic background and am enthusiastic about ecological science. I have also developed an educational website and I have a keen interest to exploit the possibilities that web technologies offer to disseminate research.
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
For Authors
For Readers
- Read the Journal
Early View Articles
Accepted Articles
Applications (FREE)
Virtual Issues (FREE)
Top Papers
Cover Gallery
In the news
Permissions
Site Advert
