معرفی
Will Pearse is a Professor in Evolutionary Ecology at Imperial College London's Department of Life Sciences (Silwood Park). He leads the Pearse Lab, which focuses on using evolutionary history to predict ecological processes, develop computational tools, and address biodiversity, health, and AI challenges. His work spans academia, government, and industry collaborations.
Education:
- PhD in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation, Imperial College London (2013)
- MSc in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation, Imperial College London (2009)
- BSc Zoology, University of Cambridge (2008)
Research Interests: The lab integrates phylogenetics, AI, and statistical modeling to study biodiversity conservation, climate impacts on species, and ecosystem services. Key areas include:
- Phylogenetic diversity and conservation prioritization (EDGE program)
- Fractal sampling designs for ecological monitoring
- AI-driven phenology and disease forecasting (e.g., SARS-CoV-2)
- Biodiversity-ecosystem service linkages
Recent Articles Trends: His 2024-2025 work emphasizes AI applications in ecology, climate-driven pathogen evolution, and rewilding assessments. Earlier publications focused on phylogenetic methods, phenology modeling, and biodiversity policy.
Awards:
- Robert May Prize (2014) for phylogenetic tools in ecology
- NERC funding leadership ($1.48M+)
- Co-lead on EDGE 2.0 conservation framework
Advising & Grants: Supervised 19+ students/postdocs. Key grants include:
- NERC/UKRI projects on biodiversity and health
- NSF funding for macroecological studies (e.g., $299k for NSF MacroSystems Biology)
- Imperial College collaborations with Hitachi and USDA Forest Service
Labs/Teams: Maintains the Ecological Fractal Network (EFN) with >40 global collaborators and leads Imperial's Alan Turing Institute partnership for data-driven ecology.
