Ecology

Related Research Units

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Geomimicry, Emergence, and Meta Soil Unit

Geomimicry, Emergence, and Meta Soil Unit re-imagines soil as adaptive matter. We learn nature's microscopic design rules to engineer "meta soils" with tailored composition and function.

Shravan Pradeep

Assistant Professor (Transitional)

green grass field and blue sky

Quantitative Macroecology Group

The Quantitative Macroecology group explores how natural ecosystems are assembled and maintained, using quantitative approaches combining data and theory.

portrait of Naoto Shinohara

Naoto Shinohara

Quantitative Macroecology Group

dandelion dispersing seeds

Biological Design Unit

The Biological Design Unit investigates what determines biological forms by untangling the evolution of structural functions and organismal development in the changing climate.

portrait of naomi nakayama

Naomi Nakayama

Professor

Forest with trees with green leaves

Microbial and Ecosystem Ecology Unit

Our unit focuses on understanding how environmental changes impact soil microbes, particularly those that are symbiotic with or pathogenic to plants, and drive biogeochemical cycling.

portrait of Chikae Tatsumi

Chikae Tatsumi

Assistant Professor

Macroevolution Unit

Theory-driven research on macroevolution, biodiversity, and evolutionary patterns across space and time, integrating fossils, fishes, biomechanics, phylogenies, and models.

Lauren Sallan smiling

Lauren Sallan

Assistant Professor

3D ant head render

Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit

The Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit explores how ecological and evolutionary processes generate and sustain biodiversity, and how those processes are being altered by human activities.

Evan

Evan P. Economo

Professor (Adjunct)

Integrative Community Ecology Unit

Integrative Community Ecology Unit

Our unit employs theory-informed experiments, genetics, and mathematical models to identify how species interactions vary over time and space to influence ecosystem dynamics and functioning.

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David Armitage

Assistant Professor

Banner-CSE Unit

Complexity Science and Evolution Unit

The CSE Unit analyzes the dynamics of complex adaptive systems, focusing on behavioral dynamics shaping social systems, eco-evolutionary dynamics shaping ecosystems, and their interactions.

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Ulf Dieckmann

Professor

Members of the Ravasi Unit scuba diving

Marine Climate Change Unit

The Marine Climate Change Unit aims to understand how coral reef fish respond to human society driven environmental changes such as climate change, heatwaves, overfishing, and urbanization.

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Timothy Ravasi

Professor

Evolutionary Genomics Unit header

Evolutionary Genomics Unit

The Evolutionary Genomics Unit studies the evolution of insects and their associated symbionts.

Tom Bourguignon

Tom Bourguignon

Professor

Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit banner

Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit

Most coral reef fishes have an incredible colors but why and how do they appear ? We use clownfish as a model we decipher the origins of the colors and how the fish are using them.

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Vincent Laudet

Professor

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Biological Complexity Unit

The Biological Complexity Unit studies how biophysical systems, ranging from subcellular circuits to cellular populations, can function despite being subject to random fluctuations.

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Simone Pigolotti

Professor

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Conferences & Workshops

Phyllosphere 12

The ‘phyllosphere meeting’ is a (typically) quinquennial event that brings together experts from around the world with a scientific interest in leaves (and other above-ground parts of plants and trees, including flowers, fruit, buds, petioles, stems, twigs, branches,

Organizers:

Integrative Community Ecology Unit
Plant Epigenetics Unit

06 June 2025 - 09 June 2025

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Courses

Job Openings

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Postdoctoral Scholar, Integrative Community Ecology (Armitage) Unit

Posted on 26 May 2026

Research unit

Integrative Community Ecology Unit

Job type

Applications deadline will continue until the position is filled.

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Gene swapping helped build the planet's decomposers

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Carnivorous plants and wasps blur the line between friend and food

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Innovation and ecological collapse gave rise to the tropics’ most important decomposers

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Listening to the natural world and those who study it

Dr. Samuel Ross brings together a wide range of research disciplines and experts to study and help conserve Earth's ecosystems.

Amphiprion frenatus in its natural environment

Research Update

Social pressure forces baby clownfish to lose their bars faster

Researchers investigate how and why fish color patterns form and change, revealing insights into the evolutionary origins of this environmental adaptability

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