People

CARSTEN RAHBEK

Full Professor
Centre Director

I direct CMEC and the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity and have an active interest in all their activities. My main personal research interests are patterns of species distribution, species range sizes, species assemblages, species richness and what determines such patterns (contemporary and historical factors or perhaps also just a bit of chance). Recent focus has been on the role of scale and conceptual formulation and practical design of null- and predictive models that allow direct testing of hypotheses related to patterns of diversity. The natural "other side" of my research relates how evolutionary and ecographical principles can be used to identify robust priorities for conservation of biodiversity.

Email: crahbek@sund.ku.dk

KATHERINE RICHARDSON

Full Professor
Centre Leader

My training is in biological oceanography but for many years, I have contributed to the development of Earth System Science as a scientific domain. I am fascinated by how interactions between the Geosphere, Biosphere, and Anthroposphere establish state conditions of the Earth. My research is largely devoted to understanding how plankton diversity and ecosystem structure contribute to ocean carbon cycling. I also examine the role of the ocean in global carbon cycling and am a core developer of the Planetary Boundaries framework. Finally, I lead the Research Centre on Ocean, Climate, and Society (ROCS).

Email: kari@sund.ku.dk

DAVID NOGUÉS-BRAVO

Full Professor
Head of Section

My research aimed at unveiling the drivers of biological diversity for a better understanding the future impacts of global change on biodiversity. I'm specifically assessing the causes of late quaternary extinctions (by humans and climate change) integrating genomics, phylogeography and niche modeling. This is also an excellent playground to improve niche modeling and getting better predictions of future extinctions when climate change and humans come together.

Email: dnogues@sund.ku.dk

KASPER THORUP

Full Professor

My primary research interest is in movement ecology, mainly the migration strategies of smaller long-distance migrants. I have recently focused on how Afro-Palearctic songbird and cuckoo migrants track seasonally changing resources through time and space. I also work more generally within ornithology, conservation and disease ecology. Furthermore, I am involved in exploiting and developing small-animal tracking from space and our “going-wild” approach. Additionally, I serve as Scientific Advisor of Copenhagen Bird Ringing Centre, Natural History Museum of Denmark and am Affiliated Scientist of Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.

Email: kthorup@sund.ku.dk

JON FJELDSÅ

Professor Emeritus

I am Professor Emeritus, based at the Natural History Museum of Denmark since 1971, where I was curator of the bird collections with long experience from collecting expeditions in many parts of the world. Over the years my research has covered many fields of ornithology, conservation biology and evolutionary biology. I now use my accumulated intuitive insights to analyze what governs speciation dynamics and global patterns of species diversity as part of the research program of CMEC. My main focus has been the diversification of the 6200 species of passerine (or perching) birds.

Email: jfjeldsaa@snm.ku.dk

DAMIEN FORDHAM

Professor

I am a Professor in Global Change Ecology at the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute and Department for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. In addition, I am Adjunct Professor at the University of Copenhagen. My research interests are diverse, and include macroecology, global change biology, biogeography, climate science, quantitative ecology and conservation biology. I lead the Biodiversity and Climate theme at the Environment Institute and I am an Associate Dean International in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology.

Email: damien.fordham@adelaide.edu.au 

NEIL DAVID BURGESS

Full Professor (part-time)
Chief Scientist in UNEP-WCMC 

My current research interests are related to the interface between science and pratical conservation action, either on the ground in terms of reserve management or community engagement, or within international processes such as the program of work on protected areas in the CBD and the whole issue of forest carbon and the implementation of REDD within the UNFCCC. As such I work on collaboration projects with NGOs (WWF, BirdLife, Conservation International, IUCN), Governments (Tanzania) and UN agencies (UNEP-WCMC and UNDP GEF and UN REDD).

Email: neil.burgess@sund.ku.dk

RUTE DA FONSECA

Associate Professor

My group uses information extracted from genomic data to understand processes in ecology and evolution. One of our main interests is to characterize gene evolution across various time scales and its impact on phenotypes, ranging from recent domestication events to differences between vertebrates and invertebrates. We are also assessing how genetic diversity can optimally be used in biodiversity monitoring and conservation. Our projects apply methods from computational biology and bioinformatics to projects in population genomics and phylogenomics.

Email: rfonseca@sund.ku.dk

JENNY MCGUIRE

Visiting Associate Professor

I am an Associate Professor and the Harry and Anna Teasley Mid-Career Chair at Georgia Tech in the Schools of Biological Sciences and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. My lab is called the Spatial Ecology & Paleontology Lab (SEPL), and we explore how terrestrial ecosystems respond to changing climates and anthropogenic pressures. We study the climate fidelity of species’ niches as they navigate increasingly disrupted landscapes. We also use trait-environment relationships to assess how communities are likely to reshuffle in response to projected change. At our field site, Natural Trap Cave, we evaluate how mammals have responded to past drought events.

Email: jenny.mcguire@sund.ku.dk 

PETER ANDREW HOSNER

Associate Professor
Curator of Birds

My research seeks to understand how geographical, environmental, and ecological factors shape species distributions over time and influence diversification. In addition to my work at CMEC, I curate the bird collection at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, and I have interests broadly in avian research. My field work is global in scope, but I prefer to focus on poorly surveyed, mega-diverse tropical areas. I am also keen on the use of biological collections as a historical archives to document global change, and on the creative use of biological specimens in the sciences.

Email: peter.hosner@snm.ku.dk

JACOB HEILMANN-CLAUSEN

Associate Professor

With a background in mycology and forest ecology, I work on basal and applied research projects on fungal biodiversity and management of natural areas, especially in Denmark. My research spans from citizen science based mapping and monitoring of biodiversity, over ecological restoration to exploration of the basal drivers shaping fungal biogeography and trait evolution. As project leader in the Danish Fungal Atlas I also work on biodiversity discovery, taxonomy, and computer vision.

Email: jheilmann-clausen@sund.ku.dk

JONAS GELDMANN

Associate Professor 

My research focuses on understanding and mapping threats to biodiversity, and assessing the impact of conservation interventions. In particular how resources, management, governance, and socio-economic context influences the effectiveness and performance of protected areas. I primarily address this through a global lens, utilizing large global dataset from conservation organizations, research institutions as well as from remote-sensing sources to develop correlative models of what predicts conservation success (when possible) through the use of quasi-experimental methods and experimental designs.

Email: jgeldmann@sund.ku.dk 

HANNAH OWENS

Assistant Professor

I am driven to discover what patterns emerge from large datasets, and how to best infer the evolutionary processes underlying these patterns. I split my research between tropical mountain birds and oceanic fishes. I also maintain several R packages and collaborate to improve ecological niche modeling (ENM) theory and practice, as well as integrating ENM with comparative phylogenetics. While fishes are my primary interest, I have worked with insects, plants, frogs, and a diversity of endo- and ectoparasites. In addition to the Mountain Center, I am appointed as a courtesy Curator of Informatics at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Email: hannah.owens@sund.ku.dk

ANNA BRÜNICHE-OLSEN

Assistant Professor

I am an evolutionary biologist applying genomics to answer questions about species conservation. My research focuses on understanding how species respond to environmental change and explore how genomic variation varies across taxonomic groups. The aim is to understand which factors contribute to population demographics and identify parameters that can be used to inform conservation of species.

 Email: anna.bruniche-olsen@sund.ku.dk

JESPER SONNE

Assistant Professor

I study geographical patterns of biodiversity from the scale of valleys in the Andean mountains to entire continents. The central question is why specific regions of the world, notably within tropical mountains, are disproportionally rich in species compared to others. Within these so-called biodiversity hotspots, I also study the network of biotic interactions to understand the mechanisms behind the species’ partitioning of food resources. My main interests are within the fields of ornithology, especially concerning the ecology and conservation of mountain birds. These interests got me involved in several data-collection trips to the High Andes and the Atlantic rainforest.

Email: jesper.sonne@sund.ku.dk

ANTONELLA GOROSÁBEL

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a biologist and I have always been interested in understanding human-wildlife interactions. For my postdoc, I am studying and mapping the potential impacts of renewable energies on biodiversity, and assessing the interaction with other human-induced threats. I address this through large datasets, remote-sensing sources, GIS, and ecological modeling. My main interests are ecology and biodiversity conservation, and generating research that could help gain an early detection of adverse effects on biodiversity and propose mitigation and conservation measures. I am based at CMEC under the supervision of Dr. Jonas Geldmann.

Email: gorosabel@sund.ku.dk 

KERSTIN BOUMA

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am an ecologist with a strong interest in nature conservation and restoration. I like to think about large ecological processes and to create research output that is relevant for practitioners and managers. During my postdoc project I will be working on quantifying nature management goals related to open-ended restoration. The project aims to collaborate with both researchers and managers to be able to get scientific output that can be applied in the field. I am based at CMEC under the supervision of Associate Professor Jacob Heilmann-Clausen.

Email: kerstin.bouma@sund.ku.dk

KATHERINE GEORGIA WESTON HILL

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am an interdisciplinary researcher with an interest in integrating diverse methods and community engagement to develop new conservation tools. During my postdoc, I am exploring how citizen scientists can monitor Denmark’s bird diversity, and how we can use this data to understand bird responses to nature restoration. I am based at CMEC and collaborate with the Natural History Museum of Denmark and Birdlife Denmark.

Email: katherine.hill@sund.ku.dk 

OVIDIU COPOT

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a biologist with a strong interest in macroecology, biogeography, and the conservation of fungi. In my postdoctoral research, I am focusing on the conservation of red-listed macrofungi in Europe. More specifically, I work with large datasets to address sampling biases and develop species distribution models which will be used to investigate the effectiveness of European protected areas for macrofungi. I am based at CMEC under supervision of Associate Professor Jacob Heilmann-Clausen as part of the EU project FunDive.

Email: ovidiu.copot@sund.ku.dk

LIRONG CAI

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am an ecologist with a strong interests in the geographical patterns of biodiversity at large scales and their underlying mechanism. In my postdoctoral research project, I focus on understanding why tropical mountain regions are global hotspots of biodiversity. I am based at CMEC and the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity under the supervision of Professor Carsten Rahbek.

Email: lirong.cai@sund.ku.dk 

NAMAN GOYAL

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a biologist with broad interests in biogeography, evolutionary biology, and natural history with a primary research focus on birds. For my postdoctoral research, I will focus on the evolutionary history of bird species inhabiting Polylepis forests in the High Andes. My research will leverage population genomic data to investigate how past climatic fluctuations and landscape dynamics have influenced genomic diversity, demographic history, and persistence in these high-elevation specialists. I am based at CMEC and the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity under the supervision of Professor Carsten Rahbek.

Email: naman.goyal@sund.ku.dk 

KYLE KITTELBERGER

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am an ecologist and field ornithologist interested in the dynamics of bird migration and how bird populations, especially migratory ones, are responding to global changes over time. For my postdoctoral research, I am focusing on understanding the mechanisms, particularly movement and dispersal, helping to sustain isolated bird populations of various species in Polylepis forest fragments in the High Andes of Peru. I am based at CMEC and the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity under the supervision of Professors Carsten Rahbek and Kasper Thorup.

Email: kyle.kittelberger@sund.ku.dk 

TIEM VAN DER DEURE

PhD Fellow

Climate change will directly impact the lives of millions through increased risk of vector-borne diseases. The spread of vector species and warmer temperatures will mean that more people are exposed to vector-borne diseases for longer periods. I want to improve our understanding of how climate drives vector-borne disease transmission and what the implications of climate change for vector-borne disease risk will be. In my PhD project, I will develop and apply state-of-the-art models of vector-borne disease transmission to predict the effect of a warming climate on the distribution of vector-borne diseases, focusing on snail- and tick-borne diseases. My research is part of the PREPARE4VBD project.

Email: tvd@sund.ku.dk 

MAJ SOFIE P. D. CHRISTENSEN

PhD Fellow

I am fascinated by the complex processes and species interactions that shape arctic ecosystems. My key interest is to understand how climate change may alter plant communities in the future and what implications these changes might have on ecosystem functioning. In my PhD project, I will use datasets from historical Danish botanists to perform field resurveys and reconstruct vegetation change over the past century. The project will include fieldwork in remote areas of western Greenland.

Email: maj.christensen@sund.ku.dk 

NATHAN MICHIELSEN

Joint PhD Fellow

My research interests lie at the intersection of (island) biogeography, phylogenetics, palaeobiology and mammalian extinctions. I use modelling approaches and multiple lines of evidence, ranging from fossils and (ancient) genomic data to Indigenous knowledge and climate and land-use reconstructions, to better understand the processes driving past extinctions and range dynamics. These interests converge in my PhD research on the dingo, a species whose origins and ecological impacts in Australia remain surprisingly poorly resolved. Key aspects of dingo natural history, including the timing of their arrival, routes and rates of expansion, and early interactions with humans, remain unresolved. Through my PhD, I aim to integrate fossil and (ancient) genomic data with process-based ecological modelling to reconstruct how cultural and environmental landscapes shaped dingo biogeography, and how dingo establishment, in turn, impacted Australian ecosystems.

Email: fcd538@sund.ku.dk

WESSEL MULDER

Joint PhD Fellow

Email: bhr597@sund.ku.dk

MUHAMMAD ILYAS

Joint PhD Fellow

I have a background in wildlife ecology and data science. My broad research interests center on understanding how biodiversity responds to the challenges of climate change. As a PhD student in the joint program between the University of Copenhagen and the University of Adelaide, I aim to use process-based models to investigate the recovery of large bodied herbivores and the associated ecosystem services. This research will enhance our understanding of how large herbivore restoration can influence the structure, function, and resilience of natural ecosystems, amid rapidly changing environmental conditions. Through my work, I hope to contribute insights that support the conservation and management of these important species.

Email: tvw463@sund.ku.dk 

ANNA REX ELMGREEN

Industrial PhD Fellow

I research biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources. My project explores how the construction sector can measure and report its biodiversity footprint, focusing on the industry’s extensive consumption of natural resources. By mapping the origin of raw materials in building products, we can assess the specific impacts of their extraction and production. The project aims to deliver a widely applicable impact assessment method and a biodiversity footprint reporting framework for the industry. I hold a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Nature Management from the University of Copenhagen and my professional (and personal) interests include constructing solutions to keeping human activity within the planetary boundaries.

Email: are@upstream.partners

KAMILLA KRAUSE KRISTENSEN

Center Administrator
Executive Assistant

I am Center Administrator at CMEC and Executive assistant to Carsten Rahbek. One of my most important tasks is to support Carsten and to keep an overview of the administrative aspects of CMEC and the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity and not least to overview the finance of the fundings. I have an educational background as school teacher, and a diploma in public administration. Currently, I’m doing a master's degree within positive psychology. I have been working in various administrative positions in media agencies and magazine production and always in roles combined with strategy, finance and innovation in the private sector. During the last 10 years I have been at University of Copenhagen, including the National History Museum.

Email: kkrause@sund.ku.dk 

TIM AMMITZBØLL GUDKOV

Communications Adviser
Academic Staff

I play an active part in most communication activities at CMEC and the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity, including digital communication and social media, press and news, and overall communication assistance and counseling. I hold a Master's degree in Rhetoric from UCPH with a special interest in critical analysis, representation, and strategic communication. I have previously been engaged in counseling and public relations, copywriting, and editorial work in both the private and public sector.

Email: tim.gudkov@sund.ku.dk 

ANDERS HØJGÅRD PETERSEN

Special Consultant

My main interests are within biodiversity and conservation, particular in a Danish context. My main ambition is to contribute in making Danish nature management more efficient, data-driven, and science-based. I do spatial analyses of biodiversity including spatial conservation prioritization; often in interdisciplinary contexts, including socio-economic aspects and ecosystem services. I have played key roles in several high-profile national analyses of the efforts needed to preserve Danish biodiversity. My broad experience from more than 30 years as a biologist, consultant and researcher also includes marine biology, environmental impact assessment and monitoring, nature-based solutions, and data analysis in general.

Email: anders.h.petersen@sund.ku.dk

LOUIS A. HANSEN

Research Consultant

I am an ornithologist, graduated from the Zoological Museum, Denmark. At CMEC, I work on various projects for Professor Carsten Rahbek. A huge project with mapping the distribution of all birds in the world ended in 2020. Other largescale projects have involved mapping distribution of mammals, snakes and amphibians on the African continent. Since 2020 employed at the Villum Mountain Project (South America), compiling and organizing data sets. Privately funded fieldwork often carries me away to East Africa and India. Here, my main interests are various aspects about the montane bird species including my passion for sound recording of birds.

Email: lahansen@sund.ku.dk

KARSTEN ELMOSE VAD 

Senior Consultant 

I am the project manager of the school programs at CMEC. I develop science education materials in close collaboration with researchers and experts. My main objective is to bring the research-based knowledge of CMEC into the classrooms all over Denmark by designing high-quality learning activities. I have a background in environmental planning and as a science teacher. My work experience includes digital learning, podcasts, books and magazines, fundraising, citizen science, IBSE and environmental education on a variety of topics e.g. biodiversity, climate, evolution, wicked problems, natural history and "natursyn" (environmental philosophy). My ultimate goal is to engage a broader diversity of people in understanding, enjoying and discussing science and nature.

Email: kevad@sund.ku.dk 

EMMA EMILIE ANDERSEN

Academic Officer 

I have a Master’s degree in biology and have been engaged in science communication and education since my time as a student. My experience covers communication of sustainability, environmental science, ecotoxicology, synthetic biology and biodiversity, using a broad range of formats including workshops, digital platforms, e-books and video production. At CMEC, I work on the project “Biodiversity in high schools”, focusing on implementing research-based knowledge of biodiversity patterns into the curriculum of Danish high schools. I develop online teaching materials for students as well as written learning materials, courses and workshops for high school teachers.

Email: emma.andersen@sund.ku.dk

KATRINE MINDDAL

Academic Officer

My main interests are science education and science engagement activities in schools. At CMEC, I work on the project "A Greener Climate" ("Et grønnere klima") where I develop interdisciplinary teaching materials and activities to be used in the Danish elementary schools within the topic of nature-based solutions. The project is a collaboration between science researchers and science communication professionals from both UCPH and University of Southern Denmark alongside science teacher associations, teachers, and students. My educational background is in teaching, conservation-restoration, and philosophy with years of experience in didactics and development of educational activities and materials.

Email: katrine.minddal@sund.ku.dk

LARS GREEN DALL

Special Consultant

I will for a two-year period (2023-25) be involved in a book project together with Professor Carsten Rahbek. My primary role in the project is coordinating, researching and editing. The focus of the book will be biodiversity and the research at CMEC. I hold a Master’s degree in Danish Literature (Major) and Biology (BA). I am an experienced teacher in biology (high school), and I have been highly involved in both exhibition developments at Stevns Klint Experience, outreach activities at Natural History Museum of Denmark , writing books on science & literature, and editing children’s books on nature and science.

Email: lars.green.dall@sund.ku.dk 

LARS DINESEN

Special Consultant

I am advisor and coordinator in the IPBES in Denmark office financed by six Danish Universities with the Danish Ministry of Environment on its board. IPBES is a global science-policy platform on biodiversity. My responsibilities include coordination of activities and administration of economy with main tasks comprising 1) liaison with scientists and decision-makers, 2) dissemination and communication of results, 3) supporting Danish research institutions and the Ministry with IPBES and 4) raising funds for biodiversity research. I hold a Master's degree in Biology on biodiversity patterns in the tropics. For years, I have worked with the international policy level on environmental agreements, research, and nature management.

Email: lars.dinesen@sund.ku.dk

SIRI VATSØ HAUGUM

Special Consultant 

I am an ecologist with a strong interest in nature conservation and science communication. In my PhD project, I focused on ecosystem responses to climate and land-use changes. My research background also includes heathland ecology, arctic and alpine vegetation resampling, and seabird population dynamics. At CMEC, I work on the NaturMål ("NatureGoals") project, where we aim to identify indicators and goals for dynamic nature management that can be applied to nature projects across Denmark and abroad. In this role, I am responsible for various outreach activities, including writing fact sheets and a handbook on dynamic nature management in Denmark.

Email: siri.haugum@sund.ku.dk

CÁTIA DO CARMO BAPTISTA

Bioinformatician
Academic Staff

I am a bioinformatician at the Villum Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity, where I support the research on how Andean bird populations have been shaped by past climate shifts and demographic history. With a background in biotechnology and bioinformatics I develop and maintain reproducible workflows for whole-genome data and collaborate with researchers to ensure efficient and scalable analyses. 

Email: catia.baptista@sund.ku.dk 

THOMAS LÆSSØE

Researcher
Senior Advisor

Thomas is a mycologist involved in the Danish Fungal Atlas projects, journal co-editor, author and co-author on books on fungal diversity and identification. In addition, Thomas works on red listing of Danish fungi, and he has a long lasting scientific interest in tropical mycology with field expeditions in many parts of the world.

Email: thomas.laessoee@sund.ku.dk 

EA LUNA BURMEISTER KAARING

Student Assistant

As a Student Assistant at CMEC, I assist with the practical day-to-day tasks on our school projects and occasionally I also assist at our teacher courses and workshops. I’m currently taking a Bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Copenhagen with a special interest in ecology and nature conservation.

Email: ea.kaaring@sund.ku.dk

CHLOÉ WIJGERGANGS

Student Assistant

I work as a Student Assistant supporting Professor Katherine Richardson with different administrative tasks, including calendar management,and organizing workshops. I also assist with communication, website updates, and social media. Previously, I worked with Katherine at the Sustainability Science Centre. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources with a specialization in Nature Management and am now pursuing my Master’s in the same field. I’m passionate about projects that promote sustainability and the protection of nature.

Email: chloe.wijgergangs@sund.ku.dk

AMALIE RAVN BRUHN

Student Assistant

I am a Student Assistant supporting Professor Katherine Richardson with administrative tasks, workshop planning, and communication. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources with a specialization in Nature Management. I am particularly interested in land use and land cover and how we can reduce environmental pressures on marine environments.

Email: amalie.bruhn@sund.ku.dk

HENRIK GLENNER

Visiting Professor

My research interest can be divided in 3 major points, 1) Lifecycle studies of barnacles and related crustacean groups have constituted a major part of my research activities, 2) Invasive species in the marine environment in Norway and other places. In recent years I have been studying the population dynamic and genetics of two invasive marine crab species and their most prominent parasite, a parasitic barnacle or rhizocephalan, which as adult castrates their crab hosts, and 3) I am interested in how to construct the most reliable phylogeny by the use of diverse data, including DNA, fossils, and morphological and geographical sources. Affiliated with University of Copenhagen and Bergen University.

Email: hglenner@sund.ku.dk 

ANNA-SOFIE STENSGAARD

Associate Professor 

I am a disease ecologist at Department for Veterinary and Animal Sciences, with a special passion for parasites and the critters that transmit them between humans and other animals. At a broad scale, I am interested in what drives global patterns infectious diseases, and how to quantify the role of climate change in future disease trends. I also occasional zoom in and look at how specific species of parasites interact with their hosts, vectors or intermediate host in more local settings. Current favorite is the common liver fluke, and its distribution in snails and wildlife in Denmark. I head the newly established Research Platform for Disease Ecology, Health and Climate that aim to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration to address and communicate knowledge about the relationship between snail-borne parasites, climate and biodiversity.

Email: asstensgaard@sund.ku.dk

NIELS STRANGE

Full Professor

My research interest is on the socio-economics of forest and nature planning and management. I have been involved in projects on spatial prioritization of conservation interventions and environmental economic valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Currently I am involved in projects on these topics but also other projects concerning biodiversity finance, biodiversity and business, payments for environmental services, landowner behavior, multi-criteria analysis, and decision-making under risk. I direct the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Course in Sustainable Forest and Nature Management. In addition, I am a member of the Danish Biodiversity Council.

Email: nst@ifro.ku.dk

BO JELLESMARK THORSEN

Full Professor 
Faculty Dean

I am Professor in applied economics at IFRO, and Dean of the Faculty of Science. My research interests are quite broad. A considerable part of my research has focused on uncertainty and decision making in forest and natural resource settings. I am also interested in the environmental economics of forest and landscape. I also teach in various courses - mainly as a co-teacher, and I act as supervisor for a number of PhD students and MSc thesis students.

Email: bjt@ifro.ku.dk

JETTE BREDAHL JACOBSEN

Full Professor

I am professor in environmental and resource economics at IFRO. My research interests cover a broad range of topics of human-nature interactions. I work with the valuation of ecosystem services, with landowners decisions-making, climate change mitigation, with adaptation strategies to climate change and broader with decision making under uncertainty. I teach two MSc courses in ‘applied economics of forest and nature’ and ‘applied arctic resource economics and management’, and also a PhD course in environmental valuation. I am vice chair of the European Scientific Advisory Board for Climate Change.

Email: jbj@ifro.ku.dk

METTE TERMANSEN

Full Professor 

I am an environmental and natural resource economist at IFRO primarily working on spatially explicit economic analysis of land use decision-making, ecosystem service provision and valuation. The range of environmental themes includes biodiversity, climate adaptation and mitigation, water quality and recreation. Currently, I am particularly interested in spatial analysis of alternative designs of voluntary environmental policy schemes.

Email: mt@ifro.ku.dk 

THOMAS LUNDHEDE

Associate Professor

At the Danish Centre for Forest and Landscape at IFRO I primarily work with the socioeconomic aspects of biodiversity. Like any other natural resource biodiversity is managed within limited economical means. Therefore I focus on how society’s objectives of protecting biodiversity are best and economically efficient accomplished. Among other things this involves revealing society’s preferences for different species by means of non-market valuation techniques and econometric modelling.

Email: thlu@ifro.ku.dk

ROBERT J. WHITTAKER

Professor

My research interests span several broadly interrelated themes within biogeography and macroecology. I have a long-standing obsession with island biogeography, having worked extensively on the successional dynamics of the Krakatau system and the much longer-scale dynamics of islands in Macaronesia. Together with my collaborators I have been working to develop island biogeographical theory to encompass multiple scales of process from ecological processes in individual trees and habitat islands up to evolutionary time scales on oceanic islands. Our work has also focused on classic macroecological patterns of species abundance distributions, island species–area relationships, island assembly and disassembly. I am also interested in the development of the disciplinary area of conservation biogeography. I hold the position of Professor of Biogeography at the University of Oxford and am an official Fellow of St Edmund Hall, also in the University of Oxford.

Email: robert.whittaker@ouce.ox.ac.uk 

MIGUEL B. ARAÚJO 

Professor

My research is focused around three broad questions: why do species occur where they do? What processes drive speciation, persistence and extinction of species at varying spatial and temporal scales? How do processes operating at the individual-species level scale up to large ensembles of species and species richness? I have also a strong interest in the application of biogeographical principles, theories, and analyses to problems concerning the conservation of biodiversity at macroecological scales.

Email: maraujo@mncn.csic.es 

ROBERT K. COLWELL

Professor

As an evolutionary ecologist, my interests center on the biology and geography of biodiversity. In the tropics, I have worked with the ecology and evolution of species interactions, and managed and developed database tools for a major biodiversity inventory. My work with biogeographical theory and spatial models has stimulated controversy and new directions in the field. Fruitful collaborations with colleagues at CMEC and at the Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil, continue to yield new insights into evolutionary biogeography and macroecology. In collaboration with Anne Chao, I have been active in developing new statistical methods and software tools for biodiversity statistics. In addition to my affiliation with CMEC, I am Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Connecticut; Museum Curator Adjoint at the Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado; and Professor e Pesquisador Visitante Especial, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil.

Email: robertkcolwell@gmail.com 

GARY GRAVES

Research Scientist

I am unapologetically curious about natural history and the pathways by which natural history observations catalyze significant discoveries in evolutionary ecology.  Fieldwork has always played an integral role in my research program on the ecology, biogeography, and evolution of birds.  Current investigations focus on the microbiome of New World vultures, biogeography of the Ozark Mountains, conservation biology of rare and declining species, and the determinants of geographic ranges. I am also deeply involved in international efforts to elucidate the complexities of the avian phylogeny through whole-genome analysis. I am Curator of Birds and Research Scientist at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

Email: gravesg@si.edu 

 RYAN ROSS GERMAIN

Assistant Professor

Part of my research focuses on understanding how changing climate conditions affect the life-history dynamics and genetic diversity of wild bird populations. This work integrates observations from field studies and museum specimens with diverse, state-of-the-art analytical techniques to determine the sources of variation in demography within and among wild populations, and predict responses to selection given global environmental change. I am Tenure Track Researcher at Aarhus University. 

Email: rgermain@ecos.au.dk