About the Virtual Ecosystem Project#
The research is based in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London and is funded by a 2021 Distinguished Scientist award from the NOMIS Foundation to Professor Rob Ewers.
The project team is an international group of research scientists and software developers, lead by Professor Robert Ewers (Imperial College London). The research team are supported by the Imperial College London Research Software Engineering team.
Project leadership#
Rob is a data scientist, specialising in biodiversity and whole-system ecology. He is the project lead for the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project in Borneo and principal investigator for the Virtual Ecosystem project. Rob is based at the Silwood Park campus of Imperial Collge London.
Olivia is the Project Manager and Administrator for the Virtual Ecosystem project. She is a conservation scientist and is based at the Silwood Park campus of Imperial Collge London.
Anna is an environmental scientist with a focus on landscape management and applied ecology. She supports the data science team in development of model parameterization. Anna is based at the Silwood Park Campus of Imperial College London.
Code development and model science#
Jaideep’s current research focuses on developing eco-evolutionary vegetation models to understand the role of biodiversity and adaptation in forest responses to climate change. He is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Climate Studies at IIT Bombay.
David is a data scientist with interests in macroecology, macroevolution and landscape ecology. He is one of the programmers for the Virtual Ecosystem, with particular focus on the model core and the plants science model. He is based at the Silwood Park Campus at Imperial College London.
Vivienne is an Earth system scientist with focus on the interaction between climate change and biodiversity. She is one of the programmers for the Virtual Ecosystem, with particular focus on the abiotic and hydrology science model. Vivienne is based at the Silwood Park Campus at Imperial College London.
Jacob is a microbial ecologist whose work focuses on developing improved representations of microbial communities in ecological models. He is one of the programmers for the Virtual Ecosystem, with a particular focus on the soil and litter science models. He is based at the Silwood Park Campus at Imperial College London.
Taran is a food-web ecologist with a focus on animal communities and paleoecology. He is one of the programmers for the Virtual Ecosystem, with a particular focus on the animal model and trophic interactions. Taran is based at the Silwood Park Campus of Imperial College London.
Priyanga’s research focuses on the role of abiotic environmental variation and biotic interactions on ecological and evolutionary dynamics, using a combination of observation, experimentation and mathematical modelling. Priyanga is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA.
Sally is a software engineer with an academic background that includes climate science and climate change. As a programmer working on the Virtual Ecosystem, she contributes to both the core structure and science models.
Model parameterisation and data science#
Baizurah is a herpetologist focusing on life history, animal ecology, taxonomy and wildlife conservation in Borneo. She is one of the data scientists focusing on animal model for the Virtual Ecosystem. She is based at SEARRP, Sabah (Malaysia).
Lela is a hydrologist with a particular focus on the hydrological processes and water quality in tropical ecosystems, especially in Southeast Asia. As one of the data scientists for the Virtual Ecosystem, Lela contributes to the abiotic model. Lela is currently based at SEARRP in Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia).
Hao Ran is a (mostly plant) community ecologist who works on forest dynamics, functional traits and statistical modelling. He helps with the soil models of Virtual Ecosystem and is currently based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Nicholas is an animal ecologist with interests in phenotypic evolution and the effects of climate and land use change on biodiversity. He is one of the data scientists for the Virtual Ecosystem, with a focus on the animal model. Nicholas is currently based at SEARRP in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Arne is a plant ecologist with an interest in the functioning, conservation and management of tropical forests, particularly in Southeast Asia. He is one of the data scientists for the Virtual Ecosystem, focusing on the plant model. Arne is based at SEARRP in Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia).