Luca Santini
I am an ecologist and a modeller, with main interests in macroecology, biogeography, conservation biology and global change biology, but also animal ecology, behavioural ecology and macroevolution. My research relies on a variety of modelling approaches to answer both theoretical and applied questions in ecology and conservation. Part of my research focuses patterns and processes in nature across space, time and taxa, with particular interest in the role of anthropogenic pressures in shaping these patterns and processes. Most of my research is aimed at integrating macroecological and biogeographical principles into conservation assessments, with the ultimate goal of reducing our dependency on species-level information and resulting taxonomic biases by focusing on general ecological principles and species functional differences.
Most of my experience is on terrestrial vertebrates, but I’m more interested in the ecological questions than species. I love collaborating with – and learning from – other researchers. I started my training in Italy, but later had several international experiences in Scotland, France and the Netherlands. Currently I’m a researcher type B (i.e. assistant professor) at the Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “Charles Darwin” of Sapienza University of Rome.
Chapter Italiano della Society for Conservation Biology 