Research Interests

Climate change impacts on biodiversity: methods that link climate change models, species distribution or habitat suitability models, and metapopulation models with dynamic spatial structure, to predict the vulnerability of species to global climate change. (Read about recent workshops in Silwood Park, UK and Madrid, Spain, which explored the feasibility of such methods.)

Species conservation: methods and approaches to assess the vulnerability of species to extinction, including habitat-based metapopulation models for estimating extinction risks in dynamic landscapes; quantitative approaches for incorporating spatial and temporal uncertainties in threatened species assessments based on the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria; and methods for analysis of population declines and validation of extinction risk estimates.

Human land-use effects: methods for projecting human land-use based on human population trends, and integrating these methods with human demographic models, and habitat and demographic models of selected species. These methods will use results of human demographic models as input to land-use models, and use the results of land-use models and forest dynamics models to predict future changes in species’ habitats and the effects of such changes on the species' viability.

Demographic Toxicity: Currently, most assessments of the ecological impacts of pollutants use bioassays at the individual organism level. We are interested in developing standard methods that will allow ecotoxicological impacts to be assessed at the more relevant population and species levels. (Read about a recent book on methods and case studies of ecotoxicological risk assessment at the population level.)