Welcome Lucas Medeiros – New SE
Submitted by editor on 2 December 2024.
We are happy to welcome Dr. Lucas Medeiros from the Department of Biology of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA, USA, to the Oikos Editorial Board. To know more about him, read our interview below!
Website: https://lucaspdmedeiros.com
What's your main research focus at the moment?
My main research focus is to understand and predict how communities of interacting species respond to different types of disturbances (e.g., warming, heatwaves, storms, pollution, overfishing). To quantify different facets of ecological stability in the face of disturbances, I develop mathematical and computational approaches based on population dynamics models and nonlinear time-series analysis. I then apply these approaches to empirical data from different systems to investigate the factors (e.g., species interactions, environmental conditions) that determine ecological stability. At the moment, I am applying such approaches to long-term high-frequency data on marine plankton communities.
Can you describe your research career?
I grew up in Brazil and did my undergrad in Biology (2009-2013) and Applied Mathematics (2014-2017) at the University of São Paulo. I then did a Master’s in Ecology with Paulo Guimarães also at the University of São Paulo (2015-2017), where I studied evolutionary dynamics in ecological networks. Then, I moved to the USA, where I did a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with Serguei Saavedra at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2018-2022). During my PhD, I worked on the stability of ecological communities using different theoretical tools. After graduating, I did two postdocs focusing on aquatic/marine systems. My first postdoc was at UC Santa Cruz (2022-2024) and, since July 2024, I am conducting my second postdoc at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
How come that you became a scientist in ecology?
During my undergrad in Biology at the University of São Paulo, I became fascinated with the idea of using mathematical models to explain biological phenomena. I realized that one of the most interesting areas to combine biology and mathematics was ecology. From then on, my interests in quantitative and theoretical ecology only grew as I worked with Paulo Guimarães during my Master’s and with Serguei Saavedra during my PhD. More recently, I became very interested in applying such quantitative tools to marine systems, where we can gain fundamental understanding and solve practical problems (e.g., overfishing, harmful algal blooms) at the same time.
What do you do when you're not working?
I love spending time and having fun with my wife and our 2-year-old daughter. I also really enjoy listening to and playing music, outdoor activities (e.g., hiking), and getting together with friends.
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