about me

I recently defended my PhD thesis.

The last four and a half years, I did research in the context of the Jena Experiment, a longterm grassland biodiversity and ecosystem functioning field experiment, located outside of Jena in Thuringia, Germany. In that phase of the experiment, we were interested in understanding why the positive effect of plant diversity on ecosystem functions — such as productivity — apparently strengthens over time. My project focused on the belowground component of the ecosystem. We examined the effects of plant diversity on functions performed by the multi-trophic community of soil fauna, in old and new communities. This work combined a field experiment, a mesocosm experiment and a bit of modelling.

My experiences and readings during this time have shifted my attention towards diversity and functioning relationships at larger spatial scales and under changing environmental conditions. So, to the links that represent trophic relationships between different populations in a community, I am now adding the links that represent interconnected communities in a landscape. Networks everywhere.

It’s all connected.

I am also increasingly enthusiastic about Bayesian statistics and Agent Based Modelling. For the first, after joining Richard McElreath’s course a couple of years ago, I am teaching myself Stan (although for my work, my needs are usually covered by {brms}). For the second, I am slowly working my way through Paul Smaldino’s Modeling social behavior: Mathematical and agent-based models of social dynamics and cultural evolution, solving the exercises in NetLogo and sometimes trying to do the same using Agents.jl. Why would an ecologist choose a social science textbook to learn ABMs? I like the way he thinks and writes about modelling.

When I am not sciencing, I read novels, listen to noisy music, watch old films or wander about in nature. In order of decreasing frequency.