Welcome Dylan J. Craven - NEW SE
Submitted by editor on 21 August 2023.
Keywords: functional biogeography, diversity-stability, biodiversity - ecosystem function (BEF), secondary succession, functional ecology, macroecology
Personal website: www.dylancraven.com
1. What's your main research focus at the moment?
My current research is focused on understanding the drivers of multiple facets of biodiversity at macroecological scales, examining how multiple global change drivers shift native biodiversity patterns, and cross-scale diversity-stability relationships in real-world ecosystems.
2. Can you describe your research career? Where, what, when?
I studied my master’s and PhD at the Yale School of the Environment, where I explored the drivers of functional diversity patterns during secondary succession in central Panama. I did my first postdoc with Dr. Christian Messier in Montreal, which is a magical city for ecologists. From there, my now wife and I ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to Germany, where I first worked at the then unknown German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the venerable University of Gottingen. During these years, I expanded the breadth of questions that I explored in my research, shifting towards a synthesis-driven approach to understand general patterns, mostly related to diversity-stability and biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships. In part because of my growing interest in synthesis, I also become interested in macroecological questions, mostly in islands or island-like systems. My scientific life came full circle when I took my current position in Chile, which is a fascinating place for someone like me that likes gradients, longitudinal, altitudinal, or otherwise.
3. How come you became a scientist in ecology?
I became a scientist by accident. I studied international relations during university, spent a lot of time working and studying in Latin America, and developed a slow burning interest in restoring tropical forests. It was a long, windy path from that realization, to the moment that I decided to pursue a PhD. The short version is that it was a combination of factors: supervisors that allowed me to fail by myself, a family that learned to love me at a distance, and a second realization, that I preferred knowing the “why” than learning how to do restoration. Since then, I have stayed a scientist because of many brilliant and curious colleagues that inspire me to keep asking new questions.
4. What do you do when you're not working?
I enjoy making and drinking coffee, the latter (hopefully) while reading an eclectic mix of novels (crime fiction, Latin American writers, etc.) on my balcony overlooking the Andes (but any mountain range will do)...
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