Contact Information
505 S. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Areas
Research Description
We work with theoretical models and a broad range of data to understand patterns of biodiversity, from tropical forests to host-associated microbial systems like the human microbiome
Ecological systems are the archetypal complex systems. They are typically heterogeneous, display non-equilibrium phenomena, are strongly interacting, noisy, and adapt over time. I bring together theory, experiment, and empirical data to try to understand how ecological processes drive the patterns of species and organisms we see in nature.
Some phenomena are almost universal across widely differing systems, which aids the prediction of patterns of biodiversity with limited knowledge of the underlying processes. Other patterns are highly contigent, providing important signatures of the differences between ecological systems. My research explores this tension, with the ultimate goal of establishing what are the key forces driving biodiversity across the globe.
Education
Ph.D., University of Cambridge
M.A.St., University of Cambridge
M.Sci., University of Durham
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Head, Plant Biology
Associate Professor, Plant Biology
Associate Professor, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
Affiliate, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
External Links
Recent Publications
Fung, T., Pande, J., Shnerb, N. M., O'Dwyer, J. P., & Chisholm, R. A. (2024). Processes governing species richness in communities exposed to temporal environmental stochasticity: A review and synthesis of modelling approaches. Mathematical Biosciences, 369, Article 109131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbs.2023.109131
O’Dwyer, J., Chisholm, R., & D’Andrea, R. (2024). Neutral Ecology and Beyond. In Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Third Edition: Volume 1-7 (pp. V5-1-V5-12). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822562-2.00019-0
Sutton, N. M., Suski, C., Payne, K., & O'dwyer, J. P. (2024). Moving beyond the mean: an analysis of faecal corticosterone metabolites shows substantial variability both within and across white-tailed deer populations. Conservation Physiology, 12(1), Article coae062. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coae062
Umarani, M. S., Wang, D., O’dwyer, J. P., & D’andrea, R. (2024). A Spatial Signal of Niche Differentiation in Tropical Forests. American Naturalist, 203(4), 445-457. https://doi.org/10.1086/729218
Arya, S., George, A. B., & O’Dwyer, J. P. (2023). Sparsity of higher-order landscape interactions enables learning and prediction for microbiomes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(48), Article e2307313120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307313120