I am a permanent research scientist in the Computational Ecology and Environmental Science Group (CEES), a part of the Computational Science Lab at Microsoft Research Cambridge. Within CEES, I lead the Plant Ecology research unit, and lead some of the work in the Spatial Ecology and Biogeography research unit.

The research undertaken within the Plant Ecology research unit aims to provide -- eventually -- a quantitative, scientific basis for the management of plant communities. An overarching concern is the impact of climate change on plant communities, and what we can do to mitigate these effects. Depending on the project, the research requires everything from pure theorizing, to making new discoveries about basic ecological processes, to developing accurate predictive models, to using these models to solve for optimal management / policy. Most of the research involves non-linear models, large amounts of data, and the computational statistics needed to combine the two. Hopefully, the new software tools that we are developing in order to carry out this research will enable others to generate predictive models for a wide variety of natural and artificial complex systems.

Most of the projects within the plant ecology research unit fall under the banner of Forest Dynamics. These include:

* Scaling from trees to forests

* Optimal forest management

* Understanding and predicting tree mortality

* Predictive modelling of forest VOC emissions

* Predictive modelling of tropical deforestation

Additional projects in Plant Ecology, not restricted to trees and forests, include:

* Species distributions and climate change

* Data-constrained modelling of plant growth

* Trade-offs, coexistence and biodiversity

Bio

I studied ecology at Cambridge University, did a PhD in ecological modelling at the University of York (UK, working under Prof. Richard Law), and spent nearly 6 years as a postdoc in the EEB Department at Princeton University (working under Prof. Stephen Pacala), before joining MSR Cambridge in 2007. My research, which focuses on the dynamics of populations and communities of plants, especially forests, has led to around 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals including Science, PNAS, Proc Roy Soc B, Global Change Biology, Ecology, Ecological Monographs and Ecology Letters. I co-supervise several PhD students at European universities (see below), and since 2008 have been an affiliate lecturer at Cambridge University. 

 Current PhD students:

	Emily Lines (University of Cambridge) Corresponding CEES project: scaling from trees to forests
	Silvia Caldararu (University of Edinburgh) Corresponding CEES project: predictive modelling of forest VOC emissions
	Nikee Groot (University of Leeds)  Corresponding CEES project: understanding and predicting tree mortality
	Sadia Ahmed (Imperial College London) Corresponding CEES project: predictive modelling of tropical deforestation
	Isabela Rosa (Imperial College London) Corresponding CEES project: predictive modelling of tropical deforestation

The rest of CEES

  Dr Rich Williams (Head of CEES)

  Dr Robin Freeman

  Dr Greg McInerny

  Dr Matt Smith