Tim Szewczyk

Dr. Tim Szewczyk is an Ecological Modeller at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, where he conducts quantitative research on ecological dynamics using Bayesian statistics, mechanistic simulations, and machine learning to address conservation challenges in changing environments.

Education:

• PhD in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder (2017)
• BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame (2009)

Research Focus: Dr. Szewczyk specializes in modeling biogeographic patterns across spatial scales, with emphasis on stochasticity and uncertainty in ecological predictions. His work integrates hierarchical Bayesian models and machine learning to study species responses to anthropogenic influences, spanning terrestrial systems (insects, mammals, invasive plants in montane environments) and marine ecosystems (sea lice dispersal, harmful algal blooms, kelp population dynamics). Current research develops empirically-guided conservation frameworks for offshore aquaculture and sustainable kelp harvesting in the UK and South America.

Active Projects:

• Off Aqua: Sea lice dispersal modeling and HAB forecasting for offshore aquaculture (BBSRC/NERC funded, 2021-2022)
• Kelper: Sustainable kelp harvesting models for UK, Chile, and Peru (NERC funded, 2021-2022)

Collaborative Network: Maintains active research partnerships with the University of Lausanne and University of New Hampshire, where he held prior postdoctoral positions, and contributes to open-science initiatives through GitHub repositories for reproducible ecological modeling.