The Theory and Practice of Statistical Ecology

My research focuses on the theory and practice of statistics and stochastic processes in Ecology and Evolution.   I view stochastic processes and statistics as the ideal language to translate fundamental questions in Biology into testable hypotheses that can be confronted with real data. Statistical Ecology and statistical evolution take elements from Mathematical Statistics, probability and stochastic processes to tackle questions of scientific interest. Yes, that is a very broad definition. And yes, that is what makes it interesting. But all the seemingly disparate topics I work on have one thing in common: they allow me to think carefully about the basic principles governing ecological dynamic processes. As a consequence, I view my work in multiple systems through this theoretical and conceptual lens. Direct applications of my thinking have resulted funded research work that ranges from the construction of population forecasting tools used in conservation biology to monitor extinction probabilities of an endangered species, to estimating whether or not evolution to antibiotic resistance has been facilitated in a bacteria-plasmids system or understanding if, how and why the avian population in the remotest amazonian forests of Perú have changed over 30 years to the study of human microbiomes with a community ecology perspective.

I am passionate about field work and conservation biology. Early in my academic formation as an ornithologist I recognized the importance of Mathematics in Biology. I jumped feet first into the math and stats world and traded the field boots and binocs for paper, pencils, lots of erasers, and countless hours of programming! The journey has been both, fascinating and rewarding. Specially because now I live every single fieldwork experience much more intensively, aware of opportunities and open problems and with renewed ideas of how to approach persisting and tough science and conservation problems.

Here you’ll find links to publications, projects and working ideas from my Lab at University of Florida. Students in my lab are either mathematicians/statisticians learning biology or biologists learning math and stats. Topics in my publications include: evolution of behavior, tropical avian ecology, the application of stochastic processes in  Ecology, Population Genetics and Evolution, Wildlife Management, Conservation Biology and Fisheries, Epidemiological modeling, Microbial Community Ecology, Population Genetics and Phylogenetics.