People

Ian is interested in theoretical evolution, game theory, and stochastic processes. He is currently studying bacterial navigation, both looking at the evolutionary origin of different strategies and their ecological implications. 

Paulo investigates regime shifts in dryland ecosystems, combining functional network analysis and Bayesian inference in simulated and remote-sensing data. 

Melissa  studies the spatial structures appearing in the underground interaction between plants and fungi and how these affect the stability and productivity of the mutualism between the two, known as ectomycorrhiza.

Zihao combines analytical and numerical approaches to study pattern formation in ecological systems. He is also interested in applying population-dynamics frameworks to social systems, exploring phenomena such as opinion shifts, disease spreading, and marketing strategies.

Rafael is broadly interested in studying how individual movement behaviors shape population and community dynamics. To this end, he uses a combination of numerical simulations, spatial pattern analysis, and animal tracking data analysis.

Vinicius is interested in studying how water-vegetation feedbacks shape plant interactions and how these lead to large-scale spatial patterns. To this end, he uses nonlinear dynamics, pattern formation and bifurcation theory and different computational tehcniques.

David studies spatial pattern formation in arid ecosystems. Using techniques from nonlinear dynamics and statistical mechanics, he seeks to develop mechanistic models and combine them with remote-sensing data and satellite imagery to explain how vegetation patterns will respond in a changing climate.

Maksim is interested in applying theoretical physics to describe complex systems in ecology and beyond. His research focuses on understanding how different animal species with different movement patterns interact with road networks, using statistical physics and intensive  numerical simulations to predict wildlife-vehicle collision risks.

Yasein studies stochastic evolutionary dynamics in microbial systems. For his Master's project, he is studying the joint role of spatial structure and quorum-sensing regulation on the evolutionary stability of public-good production.

Anudeep studies now exploring how movement behavior shapes animal encounters and their ecological consequences, by integrating stochastic simulations, analytical computations, and animal movement tracking data