Exploring the relationship between species interactions and the maintenance and persistence of biodiversity ​


We combine tools from complex network theory with theoretical, experimental, and empirical approaches to disentangle the role that species interactions play as mechanistic drivers of community dynamics. Species interactions underlie most ecosystem services, and since interactions often disappear faster than species themselves, one fundamental aspect of our research is to promote the maintenance and conservation of ecosystem services. If we are to predict—and prevent—biodiversity loss and ecosystem services demise, it is crucial to relate the functional and structural properties of ecological interactions to community robustness to global change.  

Our current research at UC Merced addresses different dimensions of ecological interactions; from the effects of inter-individual variation on interaction patterns and ecological dynamics, to the role phylogenetic history plays in determining species interaction flexibility and how climate change will affect ecosystem services via changes in species interaction distributions.

I am looking for PhD students, so please get in touch! 
​~ Lab News ~ 
  • September 2024. Magda joined the lab as a postdoc! Welcome to the Central Valley, Magda! 
  • August 2024. Baltazar joined the Lab as a postdoc! Welcome to the US, Baltazar! 
  • January 2024. Guided by Lynn Breithaupt we started our first-ever experiment in the lab. Everyone was excited to get their hands dirty in the greenhouse. 
  • September 2023. An amazing team of undergrad joined the lab. Welsome Rheanna, Natalie, Selina, and Trizthan! 
  • August 2023. Welcome Anna, the first PhD student of the Lab (co-advised by Justin Yeakel). 
  • January 2023. Time to start a new adventure as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Merced! 
  • October 2022. After two wonderful years in Zürich it is time to say goodbye. I will miss all the friends I made in Switzerland and the Bascompte Lab. 
  • May 2022. Another paper from my time at UCR is out in American Naturalist, check it out! 
  • ​September 2021. I am thrilled to be part of a Panel Discussion at RABECO (Brazilian Association of Ecology and Conservation). We will talk about about the ecological and evolutionary impacts of the networks of life (in Portuguese).
  • April 2021. The first paper from my UCR postdoc was finally published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. And we got the cover! Check it out! 
  • July 2020. I just moved to Zürich! I am excited to join the Bascompte Lab and explore a new country (& continent)!
  • March 2020. I joined a group of scientists, led by Paulo Guimarães, to help model the spread of Covid-19 in Brazil using tools from complex networks (check-out our one pre-print). We are all part of the Obsevatório COVID-19 BR. 
  • February 2020. I am honored to have been awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship! Starting July 1st, I join Jordi Bascompte's group to work on the effects of climate change on species interactions. 
  • September 2019. I am the co-founder of R-Ladies Riverside. Check out our GitHub repo for some cool resources!
  • February 2019. A group of amazing scientists and I just published an e-letter in Science: "The role of sorority in building collective science".