About Me

I study complex ecological systems and how human impacts and other disturbances are changing the way they function. My recent research has focused on which species coexist with others across time and space, and how these patterns develop. Specifically, I studied the way that biotic interactions influence species coexistence and how this changes after major disturbance events such as the extinction of large-bodied species and the intensification of human land-use.

The modern world is in a unique period of rapid change, the repercussions of which will continue far beyond our lifetimes. To help us predict how current change will influence the future environment, an understanding ecology over geological timescales is essential. I am a member of the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems research program at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. This collaborative research effort uses large databases of fossil organisms to perform macro-ecological analyses that explore how species assembled into the communities we see today, and how the present is different from the past.

My current research with the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of New South Wales involves assessing the risk of future collapse for peatlands and Antarctic ecosystems using statistical modelling techniques. Ecosystem collapse happens when an ecosystem, such as a peatland, is changed so much that it ceases to perform the same functions in the environment (e.g. carbon storage) as the original ecosystem. I seek to understand how climate change and direct human degradation of habitats interact to place Earth’s ecosystems at risk. My work aims to identify conservation priorities and assist in setting global targets for ecological management.