Our team
Ruben Remelgado (PI)
University of Bonn, Germany
I have a background in geography, and over a decade of experience developing methods and workflows to map different environmental variables at large spatial and temporal scales (e.g. fire dynamics, land cover, ecosystems) across multiple professional experiences in Portugal, Italy, and Germany. Now, as am a member of the lab of Agroecological Modeling at the University of Bonn, I am engaged in biodiversity monitoring using big data, including remote sensing, camera traps and audio recordings. I am particularly interested in using biodiversity data for purposes other that conservations, such as using species as environmental sensors, a topic I am pursuing in the scope of the BioViewPoint project.
Kimberly Thompson (PI)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Germany
Anthropogenic disturbances are increasing multi-scale interactions and creating no-analog communities, which can irreversibly alter the structure and function of ecosystems. As a quantitative ecologist, this idea motivates me to pursue research questions that merge macrosystems biology and community ecology through ecological modelling and spatiotemporal analysis. My research focuses on unifying fine-scale processes with macroscale patterns, through an understanding of how biodiversity patterns are affected by interacting anthropogenic stressors.
Corey Callaghan
University of Florida, USA
I study wide array of ecological questions focused on better understanding how species respond to anthropogenic changes in the environment. Together with my research group, I adopt a multi-taxa approach, integrating large datasets (e.g., citizen science, remotely-sensed products) with quantitative approaches, geospatial analyses, and macroecological theory to understand processes and mechanisms shaping biodiversity.
Ryo Ogawa
University of Bonn, Germany
I am animal ecologist with a particular interest in evolutionary ecology. My current work involves monitoring avian biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. To support this research, I conduct ecoacoustics bird surveys, and routinely apply Bayesian approaches.
Marina Wolowski
Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil
My research is at the intesection of various sub-disciplines, including botany, conservation, ecology, and evolution. I focus primarily on plant reproduction and plant-pollinator interactions in agroecosystems.
Patrick O'Brien
University of Alberta, Canada
I am currently a PhD student at the University of Alberta studying remote sensing ecology. My specific focus is on the measurement of tree species diversity in forests using drone and space-based data. Previously, I completed a degree in experimental astroparticle physics, working on the development of a dark matter detector. This research focused both on the calibration of the detector and removing radon from detector materials. Other research activities of mine have included looking for physics violating interactions in particle colliders, investigating the use of graphene in smart glass, and looking at the brains of giant Pacific sea slugs to determine how they navigate. Along with research, I have been involved with teaching many university courses, with topics like black holes, engineering physics, and advanced remote sensing.
Michela Perrone
Czech University of Life Sciences, Czech Republic
My research focuses on assessing plant biodiversity through remote sensing at various ecological scales. I am especially interested in spectral diversity and its impacts on plant diversity.