Rampal Etienne

Prof. Rampal S. Etienne is a Full Professor in Theoretical and Evolutionary Community Ecology at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Science and Engineering. He leads the Etienne Group and serves as Scientific Director of the Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences. His research focuses on understanding biodiversity processes through theoretical models and phylogenetic analysis.

Education:

• PhD in Metapopulation Ecology, Wageningen University (2002)
• MSc degrees in Philosophy of Science, Environmental Science, and Foundations of Physics (cum laude), Utrecht and Nijmegen Universities (1996–1999)

Research Interests: Theoretical ecology, evolutionary dynamics, phylogenetic community ecology, diversification modeling, and island biogeography. Collaborative projects include studies on African buffalo populations, fruit fly behavior, and microbial evolution. He develops frameworks like DAISIE for island biodiversity modeling and secsse for trait-dependent speciation analysis.

Publications & Grants: Over 184 peer-reviewed articles, including work on phylogenetic color evolution and species diversification. Secured grants such as the VICI grant (2014) and Dutch Research Agenda funding (2024). Editor for Ecology Letters and Journal of Theoretical Biology.

Awards: Descartes-Huygens Prize (2020), Honorable Mention for American Naturalist Student Paper Award (2023). Recognized for collaboration with CNRS and contributions to evolutionary theory.

Labs/Teams: Leads experimental and computational studies on microsnails, microbes, and mites. Coordinates the Adaptive Life research initiative exploring eco-evolutionary dynamics under climate change.