Where of When Lab (WoWLab)

Average terrestrial ecosystem seasonality. Making each pixel cycle between its own minimum (tan) and maximum (dark green) emphasizes the complex geography of seasonal timing, irrespective of geographic differences in plant productivity.

Landscapes are complex, both in space and in time. And organisms live in both space and time. Yet ecologists often ignore temporal complexity: We map average conditions, without considering how ther timing varies across a landscape. Or we run analyses that assume conditions are static, without accounting for habitat loss and climate change.

This is often justified, but it can also blind us to interesting and important dynamics. I seek out these blind spots. My research aims to reveal how the geography of timing controls the processes that generate biodiversity and maintain it in the face of global change. Much of this work is broad and theoretical. But the geography of timing is a critically important topic today, because we’re changing the natural world faster than ever before, so much of my research also aims to improve conservation and land management.

I’m an interdisciplinary scientist. I have broad training: ecology, evolutionary biology, genetics, conservation, geography, statistics, computer science, environmental policy, agriculture, sustainable development. I try to read widely, think freely, and use creative problem-solving to chase big, imaginitive, and intriguing ideas, wherever they might lead. I am motivated, in equal parts, by a passion for natural history, a predilection for abstract thinking, a commitment to human-centered conservation, and a compulsion to share and to teach.

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