Martinez, Neo

Neo Martinez's lab investigates the structure and function of complex networks, especially ecological networks involving feeding relationships, population dynamics, evolution and interactions with humans.  He is a broadly trained interdisciplinary ecologist who employs empirically and theoretically oriented computational tools including simulations, visualizations, informatics, and games to elucidate the complex interdependencies of all life on earth.  We pursue questions such as 1) What is the balance of life and how do ecological stability and human interaction affect that balance?  2)  How do mutualism, competition, feeding interactions, population dynamics and speciation interact within complex ecological networks?  and 3) How can we improve human understanding and interactions with nature in order to become more ecologically and socially sustainable?  Our research emphasizes aquatic systems including lakes, rivers, oceans and coral reefs and focuses on the most empirically well-described systems in the world from Lake Constance in Europe to the Moorean Coral Reefs in Tahiti.   We also study terrestrial systems from the Montane meadows of the Rocky Mountains to the grasslands of the Serengeti.