SDM model for the Caribbean spiny pocket mouse Source: Radosavljevic, A. and R. P. Anderson. 2014. J. Biogeogr 41:629-643 We are organising the 3rd edition of the course “Species distributions models: concepts, methods, applications, and challenges”, which introduces the fundamental concepts underpinning ecological niche models (ENM), describing some of the most prominent methods currently in . . . [ Read More ]
How complex should models be?
Photo by Stef Lewandowski and licensed under creative commons There is a longstanding discussion about the degree of model complexity that species distributions models have to have in order to maximise the usefulness of the predictions. A discussion that started with observations that more complex models were fitting species distributions data better than simpler models. See for example, . . . [ Read More ]
2015 Course on Species Distributions Modelling
SDM model for the Caribbean spiny pocket mouse Source: Radosavljevic, A. and R. P. Anderson. 2014. J. Biogeogr 41:629-643 We are organising a new course on “Species distributions models: concepts, methods, applications, and challenges”, which aims to introduce the fundamental concepts underpinning ecological niche models (ENM), describe the methods currently in use, and discuss the strengths . . . [ Read More ]
New Marie Curie Fellow – Miguel Matias
Congratulations to Miguel Matias who just started a Marie Curie Fellowship at Miguel Araújo lab. Miguel is an ecologist trying to understand the mechanisms underlying species’ responses to changes in their natural habitats. His research integrates empirical, experimental and theoretical approaches ranging from bacterial microcosms to macro-ecological models (see his publications here). In 2011, . . . [ Read More ]
Rogier Hintzen obtained a PhD studentship
Congratulations to Rogier Hintzen who obtained a PhD studentship within Imperial College Doctoral Training Programme on Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet, funded through NERC and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment. Rogier's project will focus on improving understanding of complex dynamics of communities under climate change. Rogier will be primarily . . . [ Read More ]
Raquel Garcia successfully finished her PhD
Congratulations to Raquel Garcia who successfully defended her outstanding PhD thesis at the University of Copenhagen. Raquel’s thesis–Uncertainty in projected impacts of climate change on biodiversity: A focus on African vertebrates–was supervised by Miguel B. Araújo, co-supervised by Mar Cabeza, and funded through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The evaluation . . . [ Read More ]
PhD Course in Species Distributions Modelling
SDM model for the Caribbean spiny pocket mouse Source: Radosavljevic, A. and R. P. Anderson. 2014. J. Biogeogr 41:629-643 We are organising a new course at Silwood Park (Imperial College) on “Species distributions models: concepts, methods, applications, and challenges”, which aims to introduce the fundamental concepts underpinning ENMs, describe the methods currently in use, and discuss the . . . [ Read More ]
New Research Associate Babak Naimi
Congratulations to Dr. Babak Naimi who has just been appointed Research Associate at the Imperial College London to work under the Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and Environment initiative in Miguel Araújo's lab for a period of three years. Babak recently read for his PhD at the University of Twente in the Netherlands and was also, until recently, Assistant Professor of Geo-Informatics at the . . . [ Read More ]
Raúl García Valdés successfully finished his PhD
Congratulations to Raúl García Valdés who successfully (and elegantly) defended his PhD at the University of Alcala de Henares near Madrid. Raúl's thesis--"Using demographic processes to infer tree species geographical distributions under global change"--was jointly supervised by Miguel Ángel de Zavala Gironés and Miguel Bastos Araújo and was funded through the Spanish Ministry of Science and . . . [ Read More ]
Climate change threatens the Iberian Lynx despite conservation efforts
Conservation efforts to protect the world’s most threatened cat from extinction could be jeopardised if the effects of climate change are not considered in reintroduction strategies, concludes a new study in Nature Climate Change. This research provides the most comprehensive analysis of the effects of climate change yet for a threatened vertebrate. The Iberian lynx is the world’s . . . [ Read More ]