People

CARSTEN RAHBEK

Full Professor, Director of CMEC

I direct CMEC and have an active interest in all its 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

NEIL DAVID BURGESS

Full Professor (part-time)

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 engagment, or within international proceses such as the propgramme 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: ndburgess@sund.ku.dk

JON FJELDSÅ

Full Professor

Field of expertise is broad, comprising evolution, biogeography and taxonomy of birds. Current research has focus on the tropical Andes region of South America and eastern Africa, and global evolution of passerine birds, which comprise more than half of all birds. Mode of speciation and historical and ecological factors affecting the regional patterns of endemism and species richness. This is developed through traditional biogeographical methods supplemented with DNA-based studies of species-rich groups (in collaboration with other institutes) and comprehensive distributional databases (with external collaboration concerning GIS and remotely sensed environmental parameters). Conservation priority analysis with links to institutions studying human use of natural resources. The broader field of interest includes art and illustration of books in the fields of ornithology and conservation.

Email: jfjeldsaa@sund.ku.dk

JETTE BREDAHL JACOBSEN

Professor

I am professor in economics and management of ecosystem services. 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, with adaptation strategies to climate change and broader with decision making under uncertainty mainly in relation to forestry. I teach on the master's program of Forest and Nature Management, Sustainable Forest and Nature Mangement and Sustainable Tropical Forest Management and also part of courses taken by MSc students from Nature Management and Environmental and Resource Economics.

Email: jbj@ifro.ku.dk

KATHERINE RICHARDSON

Full Professor

My research deals with the identification and quantification of factors influencing the flow of energy and material (especially carbon and nitrogen) in pelagic ecosystems. Most of my research has been on marine plankton (primarily phytoplankton). However, I have also studied higher trophic levels such as fish (both larvae and adults) and even harbour porpoises. Specifically, I concentrate on the climatic control of marine ecological processes, including predicting the influence of climate change on aquatic productivity, quantifying the role of biological processes in ocean uptake of atmospheric CO2, how changes in ocean conditions influence the strength of the biological pump and the effect of physical/chemical conditions on biodiversity and size distribution of phytoplankton.

Email: kari@sund.ku.dk

NIELS STRANGE

Full Professor

I direct the European Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Sustainable Forest and Nature Management (www.sufonama.net). My main personal research interests focus on environmental planning and economics under uncertainty. In particular on climate change and environmental effects. I am also involved in a number of research projects concerning payments for environmental services, landowner behavior and contract design, multi-criteria analysis, environmental economics, spatial planning under risk of calamities, and agent-based modelling. In my research and teaching career I have strived to mix my competences within quantitative as well as qualitative methods.

Email: nst@ifro.ku.dk

BO JELLESMARK THORSEN

Full Professor

I am Professor in Applied Economics of Forest and Landscape and Head of the Division of Economics, Policy and Management Planning. 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 at KU-LIFE - 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

MIGUEL B. ARAÚJO

Full Professor (part-time)

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: mbaraujo@sund.ku.dk

MICHAEL KRABBE BORREGAARD

Associate Professor

My research fields are macroecology and island biogeography, with a focus on the processes determining spatial and temporal variation in species richness. My macroecological work focuses on the determinants of species' geographic ranges and the composition of regional species pools. My work in island biology focuses on the role of island geologic processes in shaping the gradual accumulation of island faunas and floras. I take a quantitative approach that incorporates simulation models and null models where appropriate.

Email: mkborregaard@sund.ku.dk

Associated Professor

My research at CMEC focuses on understanding the processes of speciation and extinction that underline macroecological patterns of diversity. Specifically, I study molecular evolution across various time scales resulting from either natural processes or anthropogenic forces such as domestication and pollution. I use genomic data to search for evidence of adaptation and understanding the impact of molecular evolution on phenotypic traits, and how this ultimately can lead to speciation.

Email: rfonseca@sund.ku.dk

JACOB HEILMANN-CLAUSEN

Associate Professor

My main research interests are related to forest biodiversity and its conservation. I am especially interested in the links between landscape history, disturbance dynamics and habitat diversity on one side, and the diversity of fungi, vascular plants and epiphytes on the other. The more normative aspects of Conservation Biology is another key interest, and I consider the question: "why conserve nature" to be far from trivial. In particular, I am interested in exploring and possibly bridging the typical conceptual gap in how "good nature" is appreciated among landowners, conservationists and the broader population. Finally, I have a special devotion to fungi, and are working part-time in the Danish basidiomycete mapping project.

Email: jheilmann-clausen@sund.ku.dk

THOMAS HEDEMARK LUNDHEDE

Associate Professor

At the Danish Centre for Forest and Landscape 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

DAVID NOGUÉS-BRAVO

Full Professor

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 (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

METTE TERMANSEN

Professor

Email: mt@ifro.ku.dk 

KASPER THORUP

Full Professor

My primary research interests are within ornithology with a focus on bird migration, especially the orientation systems of long-distance migrants, but also including animal orientation and radio tracking in general. Other primary research interests include all aspects of the distribution, evolution and ecology of birds. Overall research themes: Bird Migration: Migration routes; Climate change effects; Monitoring; Spread of bird-borne diseases. Navigation: Navigation and orientation, the migratory orientation program. Conservation: Rare Danish breeding birds, Environmental impact assessment.

Email: kthorup@sund.ku.dk

DAMIEN FORDHAM

Associate Professor

Email: damien.fordham@adelaide.edu.au 

PETER ANDREW HOSNER

Assistant Professor

I curate and conduct research with the bird collection at the Zoological Museum. My research interests focus on understanding how geographical, environmental, and ecological factors shift distributions over time and influence the process of diversification and macroecological patterns of species accumulation. My field interests are global, but I focus on poorly-surveyed tropical areas. I am also keen on using biological collections as a historical archive to document global change and creative use of biological specimens in the sciences.

Email: peter.hosner@snm.ku.dk

NAIA MORUETA-HOLME

Assistant Professor

My research focuses broadly on the determinants of species distributions and richness and the development of predictive models of biodiversity assembly across spatial scales. I am particularly interested in the role of humans as drivers of biodiversity change, and in how we can use e.g. citizen science and socio-econometric proxies of land use change to integrate multiple environmental change drivers in biodiversity assessments. Ultimately, I seek to find ways in which macroecology can help solve global conservation challenges.

Email: morueta-holme@sund.ku.dk

ANNA-SOFIE STEENSGAARD

Assistant Professor

I am a disease ecologist, 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

JONAS GELDMANN

Assistant Professor 

My research focuses on how human actions impacts the state of biodiversity. I am involved in the citizen science project ‘Biodiversitet Nu’ which is a collaboration with the Danish Society for Nature Conservation (Danmarks Natufredningsforening) to track changes in the state of nature in Denmark using observations collected by more than 40,000 volunteers. I am also interested in understanding the impact of protected areas. I chair the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas’s Management Effectiveness Specialist Group and I am a visiting research fellow in the Conservation Science Group, University of Cambridge.

Email: jgeldmann@sund.ku.dk 

HENRIK GLENNER

Affiliated Full 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 the 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 data from diverse data like dna, fossils and morphological and geographical sources.

Email: hglenner@bio.ku.dk

NATHAN SANDERS

Affiliated Full Professor

We pursue questions about the causes and consequences of biodiversity, from genes to ecosystems. Current research interests in the lab center on geographic diversity gradients, community and ecosystem genetics, global climate change and species distributions, and the structure and function of ant and temperate tree communities. Generally speaking we ask three broad questions: (1) What processes underly the assembly of ant communities? (2) What factors govern broad-scale patterns in the distribution of biodiversity?, and (3) Do trophic dynamics limit local community structure and mediate ecosystem processes?

Email: Nathan.Sanders@uvm.edu

JØRGEN BENDTSEN

Affiliated Associate Professor

My research field is on ocean circulation and and the role of the ocean in the climate system. I have studied the interaction between physical transports in the ocean, i.e. mixing and advection of substances and plankton, and the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, oxygen and nutrients. I am involved in studies of the biological uptake of CO2 and the remineralisation of organic carbon and the influence from this, socalled "biological pump", influences the CO2-uptake in the ocean. Global and regional ocean circulation models are applied in these studies. I am the holder of VitusLab, a reseach and consultancy company on ocean and climate dynamics.

Email: jorgen.bendtsen@sund.ku.dk

HANS HENRIK BRUUN

Affiliated Associate Professor

My research is focussed on community assembly and species richness, more specifically: environmental control (productivity, disturbance) vs. neutral effects, species pool effects, relationships of diversity to invasibility and to productivity and community phylogenetics. My interests, however, cover a wide range of related topics, such as demography, reproductive allometry, seed dispersal processes, niche conservatism, habitat specialization, historical landscape ecology, conservation and restoration. I have done my research in temperate, alpine and arctic plant communities. A main theme in my current research is what we can learn about communities and about migration and colonization processes from studying invasive species. We study the Japanese rose (Rosa rugosa) in its native Asian range and in Europe. I entered the CME on August 1, 2009.

Email: hhbruun@bio.ku.dk

AIMÉE T. CLASSEN

Affiliated Associate Professor

Broadly, we use experiments, observations, and models to explore and predict how ecosystems function now and in the future. We focus on the interactions between above- and below-ground biotic communities and how and when changes in abiotic processes might alter those interactions. Three general questions underly most of our work: (1) How will the direct and interactive impacts of climate change alter the above- and below-ground composition and function of ecosystems?, (2) When does changing biodiversity in ecosystems, such as shifts in plants and microbial communities shape ecosystem function?, and (3) How do plant and soil microbial traits influence ecosystem function and ecosystem trajectories under global change?

Email: 

MAJA SUNDQVIST

Affilated Professor

I am interested in how abiotic and biotic factors interact to shape communities and ecosystems. Current projects I work on explores the role of climate, nutrient limitation, plant-plant and plant-herbivore interactions on plant and soil microbial communities, the linkages between them and processes they drive. The variation in responses among community types to the same factors, and the consequences of this variability for ecosystem functioning is of particular interest to me. Most of my work is on mountain ecosystems and combines natural gradient approaches with experimental manipulations.

Email: maja.sundqvist@emg.umu.se

Robert Whittaker 

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 

BELA ARORA

PhD Student

My research interest lies in studying species distributions and drivers that influence their assembly in a region. During my Masters by Research at National Centre for Biological Sciences in India, I studied mainly abiotic drivers influencing distributions of passerines breeding in the Himalayas. Along with, I used a surrogate index of dispersal ability (an indirect measure of an autecological trait) to examine differential impact of biogeographic barriers on birds. During my Ph.D, I plan to use direct dispersal data (tracking and ringing data) to fill the gap between biogeography, direct movement/dispersal data and macroecology to understand the processes underlying build-up of large scale avian diversity. I am fascinated by migratory birds and wonder what limits their distributions since they are better fliers than resident birds. Could barriers exist for migratory birds, since some species can even cross over prominent mountain ranges? Could migratory ability potentially result in novel colonization and range expansion of a species or vagrancy is just an aberrant phenomenon occurring due to erroneous navigation? Furthermore, what do we understand so far about the avian migratory behavior in context of their evolutionary history? To summarize, I aim to investigate how movement behavior of birds influences their dispersal and distributions with emphasis on their migratory behaviors.

Email: bela.arora@science.ku.dk

FILIPPO BOTTA

PhD Student

The topic of my research is ecological responses to abrupt climate changes, with a focus on stadial-interstadial shifts of Late Quaternary. The survival of plants at such past climate changes defies our current knowledge on their ability of adaptation. My project consist in using process-based models to simulate range dynamics of woody plants taxa on continental scale. Results of simulations are then compared with actual fossil records by MCMC algorithms; in this way it is possible to investigate which role the traits of these species played in their survival. I am aiming to develop a model able to simulate local species abundances as a function of climatic variables; that will allow a direct comparison with pollen paleorecords, and a forecast of plant responses to incoming climate changes.

Email: botta@nbi.ku.dk

ELISABETTA CANTERI
PhD Student

I am interested in paleo-ecology, biogeography and conservation biology. My research project is part of a joint PhD programme between the University of Adelaide and the University of Copenhagen. In my research, I focus on four Eurasian mammal species and their distribution over time and space, under the threats of climate change, land-use change and human harvesting. By using a mechanistic model, which integrates paleoclimate simulations, human migrations, species population models, ecological niche models and vegetation models, I aim to understand what happens in declining populations and how species’ ranges shifted and contracted over time, since the Last Glacial Maximum (21,000 years ago). Through the understanding of how species’ ranges changed through time and which processes drove their distribution, I aim to prevent future extinctions and target conservation resources more effectively.

Email: elisabetta.C@science.ku.dk

KONSTANTINOS GIAMPOUDAKIS

PhD Student

My research interest is to understand why/ how Homo Sapiens sapiens successfully spread across the planet and how they have shaped ecosystems and communities during the Late Pleistocene. I am using paleoclimatic simulations, human and megafaunal fossil record, Species Distribution Models and ecological tools in a multitemporal framework to answer questions such as: did modern humans track specific types of habitats and climatic conditions or did they adapt in novel conditions by means of natural selection and technological innovation? What were the impacts of human colonization of the planet to the faunal communities they encountered and what was the relationship of the dispersal of humans with the large extinction events of megafauna’ species in all continents during the Late Pleistocene? In summary I aim to unveil the mechanisms of human dispersal and the consequences of our geographic expansion on biological diversity to improve our understanding about the ecology of humans in contrast to other species and better anticipate future responses of species to anthropogenic climate change and habitat alteration.

Email: 

NIELS JØRGEN GOMMESEN

PhD Student

I am Ph.d.-student in Media Studies, at The Department for the Study of Culture, at the Southern University of Denmark. I am also part of the research programme at SNM. Main fields are within media studies, citizen science, and design. What drives me and my research is a passion for studying the intra-relations and exchanges between nature, people and technology. In that relation my research focus is on how we can design citizen science communication that supports and strengthens the acts of citizens in a new citizen science project at CMEC.

Email:

JULIA HEINEN

PhD Student

I am fascinated by islands and how extinctions of species have influenced the interactions within their communities. For instance, the dispersal of seeds by animals that eat fruit is important for many plants. But the loss of many large fruit-eaters has left large-seeded plants without dispersers, consequently increasing their chances to go extinct as well. During my PhD in Island Macroecology I would like to combine the investigation of large scale patterns on islands across the world with community-level patterns, in the Mascarenes. Mauritius is famous for extinct species such as the Dodo and giant tortoises, but at the community level the consequences of those extinctions are not clear yet. Hopefully, better insight into community assembly and loss of species on islands can help prevent extinctions in the future.

Email: juliah@science.ku.dk

JULIE HINSCH

PhD Student

My main research interests are sustainable development and ecosystem functions and services, with focus on insect communities. During my first trip to Borneo I asked myself “Can we make oil palm plantations more diverse and hospitable for native fauna without loosing yield?” Results from my Masters indicate that we can, and it is this question I examine further for my PhD. I am affiliated with the Insect Ecology Group at University of Cambridge, and do my fieldwork at their BEFTA site on Sumatra, Indonesia. The natural balance of the oil palm plantations have been highly disturbed for many years partly due to use of pesticides and herbicides. This use is now decreasing and more and more plantations are aware of the beneficial use of plants to provide nectar and shelter for natural enemies of herbivorous pests. Many plantations plant beneficial plants throughout their plantations, but how efficient are these plants and at what density should they be planted? These are some of the questions I address for my PhD. The oil palm industry is rapidly expanding in SE Asia, and growing in other tropical regions. Oil palm is the most productive oil crop worldwide, meaning that higher yield can be achieved per hectare in this system, potentially reducing the pressure to deforest areas of remaining natural habitat.

Email: julie.hinsch@science.ku.dk

CÉLINE PASCALE CLAIRE MOREAUX

PhD Student

My main research interests lie in the areas of conservation and biodiversity, natural resource management and sustainable agriculture. I did my Masters degree in Forest and Nature Management at the University of Copenhagen. During my M.Sc. thesis I focused on monitoring equity in Protected Area management using existing governance and management effectiveness tools. My PhD project is a collaboration between the Institute for Food and Resource Economics (IFRO) and CMEC. In this project, I study pollination limitation in coffee production in the Jamaican Blue Mountains and identify cost-effective measures to increase pollinator activity and thereby coffee yields, while maintaining or enhancing biodiversity. Using a climate gradient along the different coffee growing regions in the Blue Mountains, I attempt to assess climate change related risks in coffee cultivation and provide adaptation strategies.

Email:

JULIA AARON PILOWSKY

PhD. Student

I am an ecological modeller interested in global change biology and conservation. We have more data and computing power available to us as scientists than ever before, and I want to leverage these to understand how ecosystems have changed and will change in the ongoing mass extinction event. In my current research I am building a mechanistic model to learn how the species distributions of North American grazers, like bison and mammoth, changed from the last Ice Age. By looking to the past, we can better understand the present, and maybe even the future.

Email: juliap@science.ku.dk

JULIE KOCH SHEARD

PhD Student

What drives my research is a desire to understand species distributions and engage the public in scientific research. My main fields are biogeography, invasion biology and citizen science. For my PhD and in collaboration with Danish schools, I will be hunting ants across Denmark in order to answer questions about their distribution, community assembly and resource use. These findings will furthermore be compared to findings from similar international studies to elucidate any patterns in what drives ant distributions across the world. For more information on the ant hunt, visit http://myrejagten.dk. Also, I will be looking into optimal methods for citizen science with children and how we might strengthen the link between schools and current science in the future. Furthermore, I am collaborating with the Rob Dunn Lab at North Carolina State University on other citizen science projects, such as what lives in our showerheads.

Email: julie.sheard@sund.ku.dk

JESPER SONNE

PhD Student

Field of interest is centered around Neotropical birds and the underlying mechanisms responsible for the associated variation in species richness and coexistence across space. The main focus of my research is to investigate how mutualistic and antagonistic interactions among hummingbirds and plants add to the prediction of their coexistence when accounting for contemporary climate, dispersal and cost-distance. To do so, I will construct a regional network for the hummingbird-plant visitation frequencies from a national park in Southern Ecuador. This will be used to compute Markov chain Monte Carlo derived probabilities for the realization of hummingbird-plant assemblages while integrating interaction contemporary climate, dispersal and cost-distance.

Email: jsonne@sund.ku.dk

XIANGYAN SU

PhD Student

I am interested in macroecology and biogeography. My main research interests focus on investigating large-scale patterns of woody plants diversity in eastern Eurasia and evaluating the effects of evolutionary processes and/or contemporary environment and Quaternary climate change on them. I am also interested in the consistency and/or difference of species diversity-climate relationship of woody plants across the continents in northern Hemisphere. My current work is to investigate the altitudinal and latitudinal gradients of species range sizes of woody plants and their determinants in eastern Eurasia.

Email: xiangyansu@pku.edu.cn

YUJING YAN

PhD Student

My research interests are broadly within the scope of biogeography, conservation and climate change ecology. My current research focus on exploring the evolution and diversity patterns of Theaceae, the plant family of tea. These old and unique species only distribute in tropical and subtropical regions in Asia and America. Based on a global distribution dataset and phylogeny of this family, I investigate how they originate and disperse and the factors regulating their distribution. I'm also interested in the possible impacts of future environmental change on this family. My previous research was focus on the diversity patterns of plants on the Tibetan Plateau and their response to the changing climate.

Email: yujing.yan@sund.ku.dk

WILLIAM ELLIOT DRABBLE

MSc Student

I have a broad interest in many macroecological areas, however my specific interests lie with biotic interactions and the abiotic and anthropogenic factors that can influence them. For my master’s thesis I am working with Bo Dalsgaard and Ana Maria Martin Gonzalez to investigate bird pollinator plant networks in South East Asia and Australasia, specifically exploring the differences between networks due to biogeographical factors and the traits of the plants involved. I will be building these networks and will analyse how and why they vary in specialisation and other network metrics. I will be looking to complete my thesis by summer 2019.

Email: jbs160@alumni.ku.dk

LOUISE CATHARINA FLENSBORG

M.Sc. Student

I have a background in marine biology and a strong interest in conservation and biodiversity. My main area of work is on ecological effect, dynamics, and consequences of anthropogenic changes in the Arctic. Furthermore, I like to work with applied conservation on an international level efficiently protecting the changing arctic in the future. My master is a collaboration between Center for Macroecology and Evolution and Svalbard University. Using IUCN Conservation status, I will assess all arctic mammals (both marine and terrestrial) conservation status in relation to anthropogenic global changes to better understand the future fate of arctic mammals. I will explore the recent temporal trends in IUCN conservation status, and assess how external (type of main threat) and internal factors (species traits) explain differences in conservation status. Results will be highly relevant for international bodies like IPBES and the Arctic Council.

Email: 

MATTHEW GOLDKLANG

M.Sc. Student

I am a Californian who recently graduated from Yale University with a degree in Geology and Geophysics. My focus at Yale was ecosystem ecology, paleoecology/paleoclimatology, and climate change decision making science. Here at CMEC, on a Fulbright grant, I will be working on the planetary boundaries framework hopefully both in modelling and policy relevance. In the future, I plan on pursuing a PhD in global change biology and climate change communications with direct relevance for policy makers. Outside of academia, you can probably find me hiking, kayaking, or exploring my new home!

Email: wkb791@alumni.ku.dk

CATHRINE VALENTIN HEMMINGSEN
M.Sc. Student

My main interests lie within the changing climate and how we as a society can build a sustainable future for many generations to come. To me, and important aspect of a sustainable future is the cooperation between science-based targets and the industries which have great environmental impacts. Therefore, I am doing a small-scale environmental impact assessment of one of APM Terminals container terminals in Tema, Ghana, for my master's thesis. I will be assessing the terminal operation's impact on the terrestrial ecology of a RAMSAR protected wetland, the Sakumo Lagoon, which is in close proximity to a terminal expansion project site. I will focus on soil and vegetation samples, establishing a geochemical baseline for selected heavy metals and pollutants, as well as using the species composition and biodiversity of the vegetation on-site to infer the degree of environmental impact of the terminal, by comparing the data to a reference site, the Songor Lagoon, located about 50 km outside of Tema.

Email: qrv974@alumni.ku.dk

EMIL KIESBYE PRÆSTEGAARD LARSEN

MSc Student

Management of monitoring birds via drones is my thesis subject. My work will be based on monitoring and characterizing bird colonies in remote parts of Denmark utilizing drone piloting. The focus is mainly on nesting birds in freshwater lakes, mostly within the Aage V. Jensen foundations nature reserves, aiming not only to map the population of the different bird species, but also to investigate the drone monitoring method itself. I see great potential for drone-usage in the field of conservation and ecology, and I am therefore exited to investigate the benefits as well as the limits of this technique. My main supervisor is Anders Tøttrup and my co supervisor is Thomas Bregnballe from Institute of bioscience in Århus University.

Email: bvz481@alumni.ku.dk

SAMANTHA LYNN VAN DEURS

M.Sc. Student

I am broadly interested in biogeography, macroecology, and conservation, specifically the effects of anthropogenic drivers on species distributions and response to climate change. For my master's thesis, I am digitizing the first global plant family distribution maps created by Joakim Frederik Schouw in 1824. I will be updating these maps using open source occurrence data to understand what we've learned about plant distributions over the past two centuries, and where there may still be gaps in our knowledge.

Email: hfx982@alumni.ku.dk

HUAN XIA

M.Sc. Student (visiting)

I am mainly interested in evolution and behavioural ecology. My current research focus is on the migration of black tailed gull, a seabird chiefly distributed in east Asia. It is a quite common seabird in China and the population of this bird is large, but it has not been systematically studied, we only know it is a migratory bird and a few studies have reported some breeding areas of it. So, I investigate basic migration pattern of it, especially where they winter and where they stop during migration. I also focus on the difference among different individuals even different populations and some unique features during its migration.

Email: xiahuan@sund.ku.dk

MIE KATRINE ANDERSSON

Communications Officer

I am part of the communication team at the CMEC Citizen Science project The Sound of Denmark. I focus on digital communication, including strategy, content planning and production on social media as well as on websites (CMS). My work experience includes graphic work, video production etc. as well as PR, sales and marketing. I hold a master’s degree in Film- and Media Studies from Copenhagen University.

Email: 

LARS DINESEN

Special Advisor

I am Coordinator of the IPBES Denmark office. The IPBES Danmark office is supported by Danish Universities and the Danish Agency of Environment in order to strengthen the bridge between science and policy on information related to biodiversity and natures contribution to people. I am responsible for daily activities of the office including liaison with scientists and decision-makers as well as the dissemination and communication of results including IPBES Assessments. I joined the office situated at CMEC in March 2018 from a position in the Danish Ministry of Environment. I hold a Master degree in Biology on biodiversity patterns in the tropics and I have in many years worked with international environmental agreements (Natura 2000, CBD, Ramsar, IPBES), species oriented conservation projects as well as more recently peatlands and climate change.

Email: Lars.dinesen@sund.ku.dk

LOUIS ANDRɠHANSEN

Database manager

I am an ornithologist, graduated from the Zoological Museum, where my present office can be found. At the Center, I work on various projects for Professor Carsten Rahbek (and Jon Fjeldså at the Zoological Museum), where my part is mapping the species distribution of various groups of vertebrates (though mainly birds) species on three continents. Privatly funded fieldwork often carries me away to East Africa. Here my main interests are various aspects on the montane bird species.

Email: lahansen@sund.ku.dk

ASTRID STENER JØRGENSEN
Student Assistant

I am a part of the administrative team at Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate. I provide assistance with administrative tasks, such as travel and hotel bookings, travel reimbursements, fees, invoices, updating the publication list and homepage, email-accounts, keys etc. to colleagues and guests at CMEC. Additionally I am studying for a master’s degree in Biology with specialization in Ecology and at this time writing my thesis on forest dynamics and ungulate herbivory.

Email:

JAN BOLDING KRISTENSEN

Assistant Curator

I am from the Vertebrate Section of the Natural History Museum, where I work with the ornithological collections. Preparation of new material (skins, skeletons etc.) and handling of loans, digitizing data from the collections. Administration of the Tissue Collection and handling all loans of subsamples from this for genetic studies. Participating in collecting expeditions and have so far been to Tanzania, Bolivia, Solomon Islands – especially working with forest birds. Also ringing and sampling blood from Geese in high arctic (Svalbard and Greenland). Field Ornithology as a big life-time interest!

Email:

JØRN MADSEN

Communications Officer

I have been writing for magazines, publishing books, broadcasting, translating and editing for nearly 30 years. The best part of my work is all the interesting research I have to digest and hope to pass on. My focus has recently been on citizen science, e.g. Lyden af Danmark, (The Sound of Denmark) and on helping the researchers at CMEC to communicate science to the public. I hold a master’s degree in biology.

Email:

MARIA DAMSGAARD MIKKELSEN

Biologist, Special Consultant

I work as part of the citizen science project ‘Sound of Denmark’, where I am responsible for initiatives regarding schools and teaching. I have been working with teaching, museum education and public engagement for almost 10 years, recently in the school service at the NHM. My focus is to develop teaching materials and learning activities that link to the research at CMEC and aim to bring citizen science into the classroom to make the process of science accessible for students in the Danish school system. I hold a master’s degree in Biology.

Email:

KAROLINE NORDBERG NILSSON

Student Assistant

I am part of the administrative team at Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate where I provide administrative support to colleagues and guests at CMEC. I assist with travel and hotel booking, travel reimbursement, fees, invoices, updating the publication list, access to the building among other practical tasks. Apart from working as a student assistant at CMEC, I am studying Geography and geoinformatics at the University of Copenhagen.

Email: karoline.nilsson@sund.ku.dk

JAN PEDERSEN
Assistant curator

I work on the entomological collection at the Natural History Museum with Nikolaj Scharff. Specially focusing on spiders, flies and millipedes (Aracnida, Diptera, Diplopoda). My work mainly consist of expanding and maintaining the museums large insect collection and participating in field work and collecting expeditions. I have contributed to many Danish and international atlas projects on insects and spiders.

Email: japedersen@snm.ku.dk

ANDERS HØJGÅRD PETERSEN

Biologist, Special Consultant

My current main interest is quantitative analysis of biodiversity data in an applied context. My main focus is on Danish nature conservation issues in general and on combining biological data with socioeconomic and other data in multi disciplinary studies, including cost efficiency analyses and priority analyses. Most recently I have been heavily involved in a study designed to investigate and prioritize the effort needed to conserve the Danish terrestrial biodiversity and to estimate the associated social costs. During my 20 years as a biologist, researcher and consultant I have gained extended experience in a multitude of disciplines within e.g. terrestrial biodiversity, marine biology, environmental monitoring and impact assessment, environmental management, nature conservation and data analysis.

Email: anders.h.petersen@sund.ku.dk

RASMUS RIIS-HANSEN

Research Assistant

My main interests are in conservation and nature management. My thesis will be about Woodland Key Habitats and their use as a field based registration tool for assessing biodiversity values in managed forests. I will map WKH´s in Gribskov by looking at different landscape and biological key elements as well as registering indicator species. The outcome will be a field based overview of biodiversity values in Gribskov, which will be compared with an existing calculated “Bioscore”. A comparison of the two different approaches will show if the existing dataset is an adequate basis for assessing biodiversity of managed forests. In the project I will also look at the possibilities of applying the gathered data into management proposals within different scenarios for the future of Gribskov.

Email: cbn640@alumni.ku.dk

KARSTEN ELMOSE VAD
Special Consultant

I hold a master’s degree in Technological and SocioEconomic Planning and I have been working with science communication and public engagement in science for almost two decades. I have been at NHM since 2009. My work experience includes digital learning, podcasts, apps, museum education and citizen science-communication. My main objective is to increase the understanding of science, nature and “the nature of science” to all parts of society and I am particularly interested in engaging new target groups in citizen science projects.

Email: kevad@sund.ku.dk

PIL ZÜLOW
Center Administrator

As Center Administrator my main task are overseeing the daily administration, the reporting to the Danish National Research Foundation, the ongoing administration of external grants and assistance in budgeting for new projects and applications. I also assist with recruitment and liasing with the HR department, the finance team and the faculty’s research and innovation support as well as ad hoc administrative tasks within every area. I have a bachelor in Social Anthropology and Organizational Development and a master’s degree in International Studies, both from Aarhus University.

Email: pil.zulow@snm.ku.dk

ROBERT COLWELL

Full Professor (University of Connecticut)

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. Recent work with biogeographical theory and spatial models, focusing on the role of geometric constraints, has stimulated controversy, new directions in the field, and links with conservation biology. In collaboration with colleagues in statistics, I have been active in developing new statistical methods and software tools for biodiversity statistics. Professor Colwell is currently a sabbatical visitor at CMEC holding a permanent position at the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, USA.

Email: colwell@uconn.edu

CATHERINE GRAHAM

Associated Professor (Stony Brook University)

My research interests include investigating the effect of spatial and temporal arrangement of habitats on ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes and the use of this information to inform conservation and management policy.

Email: cathrine.graham@stonybrook.edu

ROBERT E. RICKLEFS

Professor (University of Missouri at St. Louis)

I am currently working on the biogeography and community relationships of birds and their malaria parasites. Much of my work has focussed on the West Indies, although I am also interested in the influence of large-scale processes on patterns of distribution and abundance of birds within large continental regions. Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis

Email: ricklefs@umsl.edu

MARTIN WIKELSKI

Full Professor (University Konstanz, Director of Max Planck Institute of Ornithology in Radolfzell)

We aim to understand how animals migrate and how they survive. To do this, we equip individuals with state-of-the-art biologgers. Data from these transmitters are collected in an international online database that is accessible to the public. Between 2014 and 2020, the ICARUS-Initiative plans to establish a novel system capable of tracking even very small animals. This research will provide new insights into how organisms cope with the effects of climate change, disease, and man-made alterations to their environment.

Email: wikelski@orn.mpg.de

JOHN (JACK) W. WILLIAMS

Full Professor (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

I’m interested in the temporal and spatial responses of plant species and communities to past and future climate change, with particular interests in the last deglaciation as a model system for understanding the ecological responses and feedbacks to 21st-century climate change. Questions include: What abiotic and biotic factors produced the past reshuffling of species into associations with no modern analog, and what new species associations will emerge this century? What were the joint effects of deglacial climate change, human arrival, and megafaunal extinctions upon terrestrial plant species and communities? How well do empirical and mechanistic ecological models predict past dynamics, and how we improve their ability to project future changes?

Email: jww@geography.wisc.edu

GUOJIE ZHANG

Principle Investigator (BGI-Shenzhen)

My major interests lie in the evolutionary significance of the genomics of speciation, the mode and tempo of genomic evolution, and the evolution of gene functions. Most of my work involves applying new generation sequencing technologies to genetic research, and using genomic tools to illustrate the genomic diversity in nature, to interpret biodiversity within the framework of evolutionary genomics, and to understand the molecular basis of animal behaviours and their advantages in species adaptation.

Email: zhanggj@genomics.org.cn