Ms Sara Contu
Research Assistant
Division: LS Diversity and Informatics Division
Team: Andrew Purvis, Sara Contu Specialisms: Biodiversity responses to human impacts, conservation assessments and prioritisation
Qualifications
- MSc and BSc in Natural Sciences, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Italy
Degrees
Employment history
- Research Assistant (Excalibur), Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2021 - ongoing
- Research Assistant (Plants Under Pressure II), Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2019 - ongoing
- Research Technician (PREDICTS project), Natural History Museum, London, England, 2013 - ongoing
- Research Technician, Imperial College London (PREDICTS project), England, 2012 - 2013
Academic
Non-academic
Species Conservation Assessor, Sampled Red List Index (SRLI project), Natural History Museum, London, Botany Department, 2012 - 2012
Species Conservation Assessor, Sampled Red List Index (SRLI project), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Herbarium, 2008 - 2011
Herbarium Specimen Digitiser and Conservation Assessor, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Herbarium, 2007 - 2008
Grants
Plants Under Pressure II: the next generation of biodiversity indicators for plants
Role: Principal investigatorBrummitt N
Co-investigator: Purvis A
Funding: Foundation Prince Albert II De Monaco
Total value £300,000 (to Museum £300,000)
Dates: 2018 - 2021
How does global land-use change reshape ecological assemblages over time?
Role: Principal investigatorPurvis A
Funding: NERC
Total value £583,881.63 (to Museum £583,881.63)
Dates: 2015 - 2018
Global modelling of local biodiversity responses to human impacts
Role: Principal investigatorPurvis A
Funding: NERC
Total value £614,229 (to Museum £387,486)
Dates: 2013 - 2015
Publications
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Contu S, Hill SLL, Beck J, Liu Y, Meyer C, Phillips HRP, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (null) Widespread winners and narrow-ranged losers: Land use homogenizes biodiversity in local assemblages worldwide. PLOS Biology, 16 (12) : e2006841 - e2006841. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006841
De Palma A, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Martin PA, Chadwick A, Gilbert G, Bates AE, Börger L, Contu S, Hill SLL, Purvis A (2018) Challenges With Inferring How Land-Use Affects Terrestrial Biodiversity: Study Design, Time, Space and Synthesis, In: Next Generation Biomonitoring: Part 1, Elsevier : 163 - 199.
Purvis A, Newbold T, De Palma A, Contu S, Hill SLL, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Phillips HRP, Hudson LN, Lysenko I, Börger L, Scharlemann JPW (2018) Modelling and Projecting the Response of Local Terrestrial Biodiversity Worldwide to Land Use and Related Pressures: The PREDICTS Project, In: Next Generation Biomonitoring: Part 1, Elsevier : 201 - 241.
Hudson LN, Newbold T, Contu S, Hill SLL, Lysenko I, De Palma A, Phillips HRP, Alhusseini TI, Bedford FE, Bennett DJ, Booth H, Burton VJ, Chng CWT, Choimes A, Correia DLP, Day J, Echeverría-Londoño S, Emerson SR, Gao D, Garon M, Harrison MLK, Ingram DJ, Jung M, Kemp V, Kirkpatrick L, Martin CD, Pan Y, Pask-Hale GD, Pynegar EL, Robinson AN, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Senior RA, Simmons BI, White HJ, Zhang H, Aben J, Abrahamczyk S, Adum GB, Aguilar-Barquero V, Aizen MA, Albertos B, Alcala EL, del Mar Alguacil M, Alignier A, Ancrenaz M, Andersen AN, Arbeláez-Cortés E, Armbrecht I, Arroyo-Rodríguez V, Aumann T, Axmacher JC, Azhar B, Azpiroz AB, Baeten L, Bakayoko A, Báldi A, Banks JE, Baral SK, Barlow J, Barratt BIP, Barrico L, Bartolommei P, Barton DM, Basset Y, Batáry P, Bates AJ, Baur B, Bayne EM, Beja P, Benedick S, Berg Å, Bernard H, Berry NJ, Bhatt D, Bicknell JE, Bihn JH, Blake RJ, Bobo KS, Bóçon R, Boekhout T, Böhning-Gaese K, Bonham KJ, Borges PAV, Borges SH, Boutin C, Bouyer J, Bragagnolo C, Brandt JS, Brearley FQ, Brito I, Bros V, Brunet J, Buczkowski G, Buddle CM, Bugter R, Buscardo E, Buse J, Cabra-García J, Cáceres NC, Cagle NL, Calviño-Cancela M, Cameron SA, Cancello EM, Caparrós R, Cardoso P, Carpenter D, Carrijo TF, Carvalho AL, Cassano CR, Castro H, Castro-Luna AA, Rolando CB, Cerezo A, Chapman KA, Chauvat M, Christensen M, Clarke FM, Cleary DFR, Colombo G, Connop SP, Craig MD, Cruz-López L, Cunningham SA, D'Aniello B, D'Cruze N, da Silva PG, Dallimer M, Danquah E, Darvill B, Dauber J, Davis ALV, Dawson J, de Sassi C, de Thoisy B, Deheuvels O, Dejean A, Devineau J-L, Diekötter T, Dolia JV, Domínguez E, Dominguez-Haydar Y, Dorn S, Draper I, Dreber N, Dumont B, Dures SG, Dynesius M, Edenius L, Eggleton P, Eigenbrod F, Elek Z, Entling MH, Esler KJ, de Lima RF, Faruk A, Farwig N, Fayle TM, Felicioli A, Felton AM, Fensham RJ, Fernandez IC, Ferreira CC, Ficetola GF, Fiera C, Filgueiras BKC, Fırıncıoğlu HK, Flaspohler D, Floren A, Fonte SJ, Fournier A, Fowler RE, Franzén M, Fraser LH, Fredriksson GM, Freire GB, Frizzo TLM, Fukuda D, Furlani D, Gaigher R, Ganzhorn JU, García KP, Garcia-R JC, Garden JG, Garilleti R, Ge B-M, Gendreau-Berthiaume B, Gerard PJ, Gheler-Costa C, Gilbert B, Giordani P, Giordano S, Golodets C, Gomes LGL, Gould RK, Goulson D, Gove AD, Granjon L, Grass I, Gray CL, Grogan J, Gu W, Guardiola M, Gunawardene NR, Gutierrez AG, Gutiérrez-Lamus DL, Haarmeyer DH, Hanley ME, Hanson T, Hashim NR, Hassan SN, Hatfield RG, Hawes JE, Hayward MW, Hébert C, Helden AJ, Henden J-A, Henschel P, Hernández L, Herrera JP, Herrmann F, Herzog F, Higuera-Diaz D, Hilje B, Höfer H, Hoffmann A, Horgan FG, Hornung E, Horváth R, Hylander K, Isaacs-Cubides P, Ishida H, Ishitani M, Jacobs CT, Jaramillo VJ, Jauker B, Hernández FJ, Johnson MF, Jolli V, Jonsell M, Juliani SN, Jung TS, Kapoor V, Kappes H, Kati V, Katovai E, Kellner K, Kessler M, Kirby KR, Kittle AM, Knight ME, Knop E, Kohler F, Koivula M, Kolb A, Kone M, Kőrösi Á, Krauss J, Kumar A, Kumar R, Kurz DJ, Kutt AS, Lachat T, Lantschner V, Lara F, Lasky JR, Latta SC, Laurance WF, Lavelle P, Le Féon V, LeBuhn G, Légaré J-P, Lehouck V, Lencinas MV, Lentini PE, Letcher SG, Li Q, Litchwark SA, Littlewood NA, Liu Y, Lo-Man-Hung N, López-Quintero CA, Louhaichi M, Lövei GL, Lucas-Borja ME, Luja VH, Luskin MS, MacSwiney G MC, Maeto K, Magura T, Mallari NA, Malone LA, Malonza PK, Malumbres-Olarte J, Mandujano S, Måren IE, Marin-Spiotta E, Marsh CJ, Marshall EJP, Martínez E, Martínez Pastur G, Moreno Mateos D, Mayfield MM, Mazimpaka V, McCarthy JL, McCarthy KP, McFrederick QS, McNamara S, Medina NG, Medina R, Mena JL, Mico E, Mikusinski G, Milder JC, Miller JR, Miranda-Esquivel DR, Moir ML, Morales CL, Muchane MN, Muchane M, Mudri-Stojnic S, Munira AN, Muoñz-Alonso A, Munyekenye BF, Naidoo R, Naithani A, Nakagawa M, Nakamura A, Nakashima Y, Naoe S, Nates-Parra G, Navarrete Gutierrez DA, Navarro-Iriarte L, Ndang'ang'a PK, Neuschulz EL, Ngai JT, Nicolas V, Nilsson SG, Noreika N, Norfolk O, Noriega JA, Norton DA, Nöske NM, Nowakowski AJ, Numa C, O'Dea N, O'Farrell PJ, Oduro W, Oertli S, Ofori-Boateng C, Oke CO, Oostra V, Osgathorpe LM, Otavo SE, Page NV, Paritsis J, Parra-H A, Parry L, Pe'er G, Pearman PB, Pelegrin N, Pélissier R, Peres CA, Peri PL, Persson AS, Petanidou T, Peters MK, Pethiyagoda RS, Phalan B, Philips TK, Pillsbury FC, Pincheira-Ulbrich J, Pineda E, Pino J, Pizarro-Araya J, Plumptre AJ, Poggio SL, Politi N, Pons P, Poveda K, Power EF, Presley SJ, Proença V, Quaranta M, Quintero C, Rader R, Ramesh BR, Ramirez-Pinilla MP, Ranganathan J, Rasmussen C, Redpath-Downing NA, Reid JL, Reis YT, Rey Benayas JM, Rey-Velasco JC, Reynolds C, Ribeiro DB, Richards MH, Richardson BA, Richardson MJ, Ríos RM, Robinson R, Robles CA, Römbke J, Romero-Duque LP, Rös M, Rosselli L, Rossiter SJ, Roth DS, Roulston TH, Rousseau L, Rubio AV, Ruel J-C, Sadler JP, Sáfián S, Saldaña-Vázquez RA, Sam K, Samnegård U, Santana J, Santos X, Savage J, Schellhorn NA, Schilthuizen M, Schmiedel U, Schmitt CB, Schon NL, Schüepp C, Schumann K, Schweiger O, Scott DM, Scott KA, Sedlock JL, Seefeldt SS, Shahabuddin G, Shannon G, Sheil D, Sheldon FH, Shochat E, Siebert SJ, Silva FAB, Simonetti JA, Slade EM, Smith J, Smith-Pardo AH, Sodhi NS, Somarriba EJ, Sosa RA, Soto Quiroga G, St-Laurent M-H, Starzomski BM, Stefanescu C, Steffan-Dewenter I, Stouffer PC, Stout JC, Strauch AM, Struebig MJ, Su Z, Suarez-Rubio M, Sugiura S, Summerville KS, Sung Y-H, Sutrisno H, Svenning J-C, Teder T, Threlfall CG, Tiitsaar A, Todd JH, Tonietto RK, Torre I, Tóthmérész B, Tscharntke T, Turner EC, Tylianakis JM, Uehara-Prado M, Urbina-Cardona N, Vallan D, Vanbergen AJ, Vasconcelos HL, Vassilev K, Verboven HAF, Verdasca MJ, Verdú JR, Vergara CH, Vergara PM, Verhulst J, Virgilio M, Vu LV, Waite EM, Walker TR, Wang H-F, Wang Y, Watling JI, Weller B, Wells K, Westphal C, Wiafe ED, Williams CD, Willig MR, Woinarski JCZ, Wolf JHD, Wolters V, Woodcock BA, Wu J, Wunderle JM, Yamaura Y, Yoshikura S, Yu DW, Zaitsev AS, Zeidler J, Zou F, Collen B, Ewers RM, Mace GM, Purves DW, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (2017) The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project. Ecology and Evolution, 7 (1) : 145 - 188. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2579
Hudson L, Newbold T, Contu S, Hill SLL, Lysenko I, De Palma A, Phillips HRP, Alhusseini TI, Bedford FE, Bennett DJ, Booth H, Burton VJ, Chng CWT, Choimes A, Correia D, Day J, Echeverria-Londono S, Emerson SR, Gao D, Garon M, Harrison MLK, Ingram DI, Jung M, Kemp V, Kirkpatrick L, Martin CD, Pan P, Pask-Hale GD, Pynegar EL, Robinson AN, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Senior RA, Simmons BI, White HJ, Zhang H, Eggleton P, Collen B, Ewers RM, Mace GM, Purves DW, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (2016) The 2016 release of the PREDICTS database.
Echeverria-Londono S, Newbold T, Hudson LN, Contu S, Hill SLL, Lysenko I, Arbelaez-Cortes E, Armbrecht I, Boekhout T, Cabra-Garcia J, Dominguez-Haydar Y, Nates-Parra G, Gutierrez-Lamus DL, Higuera D, Isaacs-Cubides PJ, Lopez-Quintero CA, Martinez E, Miranda-Esquivel DR, Navarro-Iriarte LE, Noriega JA, Otavo SE, Parra-H A, Poveda K, Ramirez-Pinilla MP, Rey-Velasco JC, Rosselli L, Smith-Pardo AH, Urbina-Cardona JN, Purvis A (2016) Modelling and projecting the response of local assemblage composition to land use change across Colombia. BRITISH JOURNAL OF POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, 18 (4) : 1099 - 1111. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12478
Echeverría-Londoño S, Newbold T, Hudson LN, Contu S, Hill SLL, Lysenko I, Arbeláez-Cortés E, Armbrecht I, Boekhout T, Cabra-García J, Dominguez-Haydar Y, Nates-Parra G, Gutiérrez-Lamus DL, Higuera D, Isaacs-Cubides PJ, López-Quintero CA, Martinez E, Miranda-Esquivel DR, Navarro-Iriarte LE, Noriega JA, Otavo SE, Parra-H A, Poveda K, Ramirez-Pinilla MP, Rey-Velasco JC, Rosselli L, Smith-Pardo AH, Urbina-Cardona JN, Purvis A (2016) Modelling and projecting the response of local assemblage composition to land use change across Colombia. Diversity and Distributions, 22 (11) : 1099 - 1111. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12478
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Arnell AP, Contu S, De Palma A, Ferrier S, Hill SLL, Hoskins AJ, Lysenko I, Phillips HRP, Burton VJ, Chng CWT, Emerson S, Gao D, Pask-Hale G, Hutton J, Jung M, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Simmons BI, Whitmee S, Zhang H, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (2016) Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment. Science, 353 (6296) : 288 - 291. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf2201
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Arnell AP, Contu S, De Palma A, Ferrier S, Hill SLL, Hoskins AJ, Lysenko I, Phillips HRP, Burton VJ, Chng CWT, Emerson S, Gao D, Pask-Hale G, Hutton J, Jung M, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Simmons BI, Whitmee S, Zhang H, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (2016) Global map of the Biodiversity Intactness Index, from Newbold et al. (2016) Science.
Gray CL, Hill SLL, Newbold T, Hudson LN, Börger L, Contu S, Hoskins AJ, Ferrier S, Purvis A, Scharlemann JPW (2016) Local biodiversity is higher inside than outside terrestrial protected areas worldwide. Nature Communications, 7 (1) : doi: 10.1038/ncomms12306
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Hill SLL, Contu S, Gray CL, Scharlemann JPW, Börger L, Phillips HRP, Sheil D, Lysenko I, Purvis A (2016) Global patterns of terrestrial assemblage turnover within and among land uses. Ecography, 39 (12) : 1151 - 1163. doi: 10.1111/ecog.01932
Brummitt NA, Bachman SP, Griffiths-Lee J, Lutz M, Moat JF, Farjon A, Donaldson JS, Hilton-Taylor C, Meagher TR, Albuquerque S, Aletrari E, Andrews AK, Atchison G, Baloch E, Barlozzini B, Brunazzi A, Carretero J, Celesti M, Chadburn H, Cianfoni E, Cockel C, Coldwell V, Concetti B, Contu S, Crook V, Dyson P, Gardiner L, Ghanim N, Greene H, Groom A, Harker R, Hopkins D, Khela S, Lakeman-Fraser P, Lindon H, Lockwood H, Loftus C, Lombrici D, Lopez-Poveda L, Lyon J, Malcolm-Tompkins P, McGregor K, Moreno L, Murray L, Nazar K, Power E, Quiton Tuijtelaars M, Salter R, Segrott R, Thacker H, Thomas LJ, Tingvoll S, Watkinson G, Wojtaszekova K, Nic Lughadha EM (null) Green Plants in the Red: A Baseline Global Assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants. PLOS ONE, 10 (8) : e0135152 - e0135152. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135152
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Hill SLL, Contu S, Lysenko I, Senior RA, Börger L, Bennett DJ, Choimes A, Collen B, Day J, De Palma A, Díaz S, Echeverria-Londoño S, Edgar MJ, Feldman A, Garon M, Harrison MLK, Alhusseini T, Ingram DJ, Itescu Y, Kattge J, Kemp V, Kirkpatrick L, Kleyer M, Correia DLP, Martin CD, Meiri S, Novosolov M, Pan Y, Phillips HRP, Purves DW, Robinson A, Simpson J, Tuck SL, Weiher E, White HJ, Ewers RM, Mace GM, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (2015) Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity. Nature, 520 (7545) : 45 - 50. doi: 10.1038/nature14324
Hudson L, Newbold T, Contu S, Hill SLL, Lysenko I, De Palma A, Phillips HRP, Senior RA, Bennett DJ, Booth H, Choimes A, Correia DLP, Day J, Echeverría-Londoño S, Garon M, Harrison MLK, Ingram DJ, Jung M, Kemp V, Kirkpatrick, L, Martin CD, Pan Y, 220 co-authors , Purvis A (2015) PREDICTS: site-level summary biodiversity and pressure data.
Hudson LN, Newbold T, Contu S, Hill SLL, Lysenko I, De Palma A, Phillips HRP, Senior RA, Bennett DJ, Booth H, Choimes A, Correia DLP, Day J, Echeverría-Londoño S, Garon M, Harrison MLK, Ingram DJ, Jung M, Kemp V, Kirkpatrick L, Martin CD, Pan Y, White HJ, Aben J, Abrahamczyk S, Adum GB, Aguilar-Barquero V, Aizen MA, Ancrenaz M, Arbeláez-Cortés E, Armbrecht I, Azhar B, Azpiroz AB, Baeten L, Báldi A, Banks JE, Barlow J, Batáry P, Bates AJ, Bayne EM, Beja P, Berg Å, Berry NJ, Bicknell JE, Bihn JH, Böhning-Gaese K, Boekhout T, Boutin C, Bouyer J, Brearley FQ, Brito I, Brunet J, Buczkowski G, Buscardo E, Cabra-García J, Calviño-Cancela M, Cameron SA, Cancello EM, Carrijo TF, Carvalho AL, Castro H, Castro-Luna AA, Cerda R, Cerezo A, Chauvat M, Clarke FM, Cleary DFR, Connop SP, D'Aniello B, da Silva PG, Darvill B, Dauber J, Dejean A, Diekötter T, Dominguez-Haydar Y, Dormann CF, Dumont B, Dures SG, Dynesius M, Edenius L, Elek Z, Entling MH, Farwig N, Fayle TM, Felicioli A, Felton AM, Ficetola GF, Filgueiras BKC, Fonte SJ, Fraser LH, Fukuda D, Furlani D, Ganzhorn JU, Garden JG, Gheler-Costa C, Giordani P, Giordano S, Gottschalk MS, Goulson D, Gove AD, Grogan J, Hanley ME, Hanson T, Hashim NR, Hawes JE, Hébert C, Helden AJ, Henden J-A, Hernández L, Herzog F, Higuera-Diaz D, Hilje B, Horgan FG, Horváth R, Hylander K, Isaacs-Cubides P, Ishitani M, Jacobs CT, Jaramillo VJ, Jauker B, Jonsell M, Jung TS, Kapoor V, Kati V, Katovai E, Kessler M, Knop E, Kolb A, Kőrösi Á, Lachat T, Lantschner V, Le Féon V, LeBuhn G, Légaré J-P, Letcher SG, Littlewood NA, López-Quintero CA, Louhaichi M, Lövei GL, Lucas-Borja ME, Luja VH, Maeto K, Magura T, Mallari NA, Marin-Spiotta E, Marshall EJP, Martínez E, Mayfield MM, Mikusinski G, Milder JC, Miller JR, Morales CL, Muchane MN, Muchane M, Naidoo R, Nakamura A, Naoe S, Nates-Parra G, Navarrete Gutierrez DA, Neuschulz EL, Noreika N, Norfolk O, Noriega JA, Nöske NM, O'Dea N, Oduro W, Ofori-Boateng C, Oke CO, Osgathorpe LM, Paritsis J, Parra-H A, Pelegrin N, Peres CA, Persson AS, Petanidou T, Phalan B, Philips TK, Poveda K, Power EF, Presley SJ, Proença V, Quaranta M, Quintero C, Redpath-Downing NA, Reid JL, Reis YT, Ribeiro DB, Richardson BA, Richardson MJ, Robles CA, Römbke J, Romero-Duque LP, Rosselli L, Rossiter SJ, Roulston TH, Rousseau L, Sadler JP, Sáfián S, Saldaña-Vázquez RA, Samnegård U, Schüepp C, Schweiger O, Sedlock JL, Shahabuddin G, Sheil D, Silva FAB, Slade EM, Smith-Pardo AH, Sodhi NS, Somarriba EJ, Sosa RA, Stout JC, Struebig MJ, Sung Y-H, Threlfall CG, Tonietto R, Tóthmérész B, Tscharntke T, Turner EC, Tylianakis JM, Vanbergen AJ, Vassilev K, Verboven HAF, Vergara CH, Vergara PM, Verhulst J, Walker TR, Wang Y, Watling JI, Wells K, Williams CD, Willig MR, Woinarski JCZ, Wolf JHD, Woodcock BA, Yu DW, Zaitsev AS, Collen B, Ewers RM, Mace GM, Purves DW, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (2014) The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts. Ecology and Evolution, 4 (24) : 4701 - 4735. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1303
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Phillips HRP, Hill SLL, Contu S, Lysenko I, Blandon A, Butchart SHM, Booth HL, Day J, De Palma A, Harrison MLK, Kirkpatrick L, Pynegar E, Robinson A, Simpson J, Mace GM, Scharlemann JPW, Purvis A (2014) A global model of the response of tropical and sub-tropical forest biodiversity to anthropogenic pressures. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281 (1792) : 20141371 - 20141371. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1371
Hudson LN, Asher C, Contu S, Newbold T, Hill SLL, Purvis A (2013) PREDICTS .
Invited and keynote speaker
Invited speaker, The PREDICTS Project, NHM Executive Board visit: 2/2/2015.