Advisory Board and Editors Biodiversity
Xavier Pochon
Team Leader, Molecular Surveillance, Biosecurity Group, Cawthron Institute, New Zealand.
Associate Professor, Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
My research at the Cawthron Institute is highly applied and consist of developing multi-trophic molecular tools for environmental monitoring of marine industries (e.g. aquaculture farms, marine biosecurity in ports and marinas, and deep-sea exploration).
At the University of Auckland, I combine 'real-world' and 'blue-sky' research applications, including; i) investigating functional underpinnings of Symbiodiniaceae in coral reef ecosystems, ii) characterizing microbiomes in aquaculture and natural settings, iii) measuring eDNA and eRNA decay rates in marine invertebrates and vertebrates, iv) studying preferential settlement of marine invasive species associated with marine plastic debris, and v) exploring the diversity and dynamics of open-ocean plankton communities in the Pacific and beyond.
Mason Posner
Professor and former Chairperson of Biology and Toxicology at Ashland University in Ohio. My research focuses on the evolution, physiology and biochemistry of alpha crystallins, a group of small heat shock proteins that protect cells against stress and are implicated in numerous diseases such as lens cataracts, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and cancer. My undergraduate research students and I use the zebrafish and other fish species as models to investigate alpha crystallin function. Our work involves qPCR to measure gene expression, CRISPR gene editing, proteomics, transcriptomics, promoter analysis and histology.
My background is in marine biology, systematics, ecology, molecular biology, protein biochemistry and comparative visual physiology. I train undergraduate research assistants in my laboratory and prepare students for graduate and professional schools and work in industry.
Hugh Possingham
Professor of Mathematics and Professor of Ecology. Director of The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Director of The National Environment Research Program hub for Environmental Decisions
Alastair J Potts
I am interested in many aspects of South African œcology, including palaeovegetation distributions, plant phylogeography, drivers of biome boundaries and Albany Subtropical Thicket œcology (e.g. physiology, seed dispersal and restoration). I also spend time exploring the interface between phylogenetic trees and networks, as evolution is often poorly described using a bifurcating tree.
Nikolay A Poyarkov
I am a herpetologist working on diverse aspects of taxonomy, phylogeny and biodiversity of Asian herpetofauna. I have graduated from the Department of Vertebrate Zoology of Lomonosov Moscow State University and finished my PhD on taxonomy and evolution of Asian salamanders (Hynobiidae) in 2010. Presently I am working in this department as an associate professor. My study is focused on a set of topics on evolutionary biology and taxonomy of Asian amphibians and reptiles, including molecular systematics, phylogeography, DNA-barcoding, distribution and taxonomy of certain groups of Asian herps.
Jeff Price
Dr. Price is a Senior Researcher in the Tyndall Climate Change Centre, University of East Anglia. He is the coordinator of the Wallace Initiative, an Australia/U.K. collaboration examining the potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity (125,000 species examined) and ecosystem services at temperatures of 1.5° - 6°C. He is completing work on the Helix project where he coordinated the development of ClimaCrop, a new tool for looking at the impacts of climate change on crop yields and suitability. He was one of the lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third and Fourth Assessment Reports, (and contributing author on the Fifth) for which he shares in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC. He also served on the Convention on Biological Diversity Ad-hoc Technical Expert Group on Climate Change and Biodiversity, and contributed to the U.K. Government’s Stern Review of the Economic Impacts of Climate Change (looking at health, agriculture and biodiversity) and the U.S. National Assessment on Climate Change Impacts on the United States.
Diogo B Provete
I am an Assistant Professor of Ecology and Statistical Ecology at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. My primary research interests include metacommunity ecology, biogeography, macroecology, and macroevolution. I often use phylogenetic comparative methods, geometric morphometrics, and multidimensional analysis in my research. I'm an elected member of the Science Committee of the Ecological Society of America, Chair of the ESA Latin America Chapter and serve as an Associate Editor for Amphibia-Reptilia, Journal of Herpetology, and Ecosphere. So far, I have published 30 papers on ecology and herpetology in international journals, 4 book chapters, in addition to a book on Biogeographical patterns of South American Anurans by Springer. My research has been featured in F1000 Prime and several Brazilian newspapers. I have advised four master's students. I have been invited to present my research in Swansea (UK), Argentina, Recife, and São Paulo. I served as Editor-in-Chief for Check List, and also was a member of the editorial board of five other zoology journals.
Bartosz J Płachno
Bartosz Jan Płachno (born in 1978), biologist specialized in plant anatomy, cytology and embryology, with particular emphasis on electron microscopy techniques. He mainly studies the structure of carnivorous plants. Scholarship holder of the Foundation for Polish Science and the Minister of Science and Higher Education. Professor of the Faculty of Biology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He's also interested in fossil crinoids and art.
Juan P Quimbayo
I am an ecologist who uses a multidisciplinary approach to understand and conserve biodiversity through space and time. I earned my Ph.D. from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil and served as a Research Scientist at the Ohio State University. I previously conducted post-doctoral work at other institutions, including the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and São Paulo University. I joined the U in 2024 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology where I established the BioScales Lab. My lab focuses on exploring: (1) patterns and processes of biodiversity dynamics across space and time, (2) ecological interactions, and (3) effects of global change on biodiversity. To investigate these themes, we integrate theoretical concepts, statistical tools, and field-based methods across multiple scales.
Claudio C Ramirez
I work on insect ecology focusing in plant-insect interactions from a perspective that addresses proximal (ecological) and distal (evolutionary) causes. This approach aims to contribute to the knowledge of the herbivory patterns observed in natural and productive systems. Regarding proximal causes, I have a particular interest in the behavioral mechanisms that insect uses to feed on host plants, this includes how they deal with plant defense (either in crops or native plants). In relation to distal causes, I am interested in the correlation or experimental association between traits and reproductive outputs over generations. I have been studying hemipteran insects of the family Aphididae, which constitute important crop pests in Chile. Aphids are the group of insects that I have study the most. That are a good model to address fundamental questions in biology and also are a real problem for plant production. I do also enjoy to contribute with ideas aimed to reduce the use of pesticides in agroecosystems. The relationship between agrecosystem and natural areas are also an area that I intend to explore.
Naureen Rana
I am Assistant Professor at the University of Agriculture, Pakistan. My research currently focuses on the diversity of arthropods, particularly insects in different agroecological zones. I am also interested for the monitoring of wildlife and their conservational aspects. I am interested in the conservation of insects and the ecological balance that insects impose on the ecosystem. I also have a lot of experience in agricultural entomology as well as studying different landscapes. In addition to this I have documented the insects of different agricultural cropland of Punjab Pakistan.
Sushma Reddy
Dr. Sushma Reddy is the Breckenridge Chair of Ornithology at the Bell Museum of Natural History and Associate Professor in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota. Her research investigates biological diversity by using genetic, phenotypic, and geographic data to study the evolutionary history of birds. From adaptive radiations in Madagascar to diversification patterns in the Old World tropics and the early evolution of modern birds, her work spans the breadth of avian phylogenetics. As a natural history museum curator, she oversees the Bell Museum’s collection of bird specimens and is part of a global network of biodiversity repositories, a key resource for understanding environmental change. She collaborates with scientists across the world and trains students at all levels. Her research continues to build our knowledge of bird diversity and aid conservation efforts.