Dr Adriana De Palma
Principal Researcher
Summary
I’m a permanent researcher at the Natural History Museum London and Co-Lead of the Biodiversity Futures Lab.I’m a computational ecologist; I use large, complex datasets and multiple data-science approaches to understand how human activity affects the variety of life on land. I then use this information to predict the health of nature in the past, present and future, so we can see how we got to where we are now, and where we are going.Scientific advancement is a key part of my job, but the true aim is to support others on the journey towards a happy and healthy planet, for the benefit of both people and nature. I do that by developing and sharing robust scientific evidence to help people—including policy makers and companies—to understand their impacts on the world around us and to make more sustainable choices.Other posts:Lead Author, IPBES Nexus AssessmentMuseum Coordinator, MSc Ecology and Data Science, University College London & Natural History MuseumCurriculum Advisor for Data Carpentry: Ecology, Software CarpentryEditorial Board Member, npj BiodiversityWorld Economic Forum Young Scientist of the Year, 2019
Qualifications
Degrees
- Doctor of Philosophy, Imperial College London, UK, 2011 - 2016
- MRes Entomology, Distinction, Imperial College London, UK, 2010 - 2011
- BSc Biology, 1st Class with honours, University of Sussex, UK, 2006 - 2009
Postgraduate training
- LondonR Workshop on Shiny Apps, Mango Solutions, UK, 2015 - 2015
- Software Carpentry Bootcamp, Software Carpentry, Grenwich, 2013 - 2013
- C for Science, School for Professional Development, Imperial College London, UK, 2013 - 2013
- Latin American eScience Workshop 2013: Turning data into Insight, Microsoft Research and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Brazil, 2013 - 2013
- An Introduction to the U.S. Food System, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health via Coursera, USA, 2013 - 2013
- A modern approach to meta-analysis, School of Professional Development, Imperial College London, UK, 2012 - 2012
- Statistical Computing with R, Imperial College London, UK, 2011 - 2011
Academic
- Principal Researcher, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom, 2023 - ongoing
- Senior Researcher, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom, 2020 - 2023
- Co-Investigator Researcher, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom, 2018 - 2020
- Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, Natural History Museum, UK, 2015 - 2018
- Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Natural History Museum, UK, 2015 - 2015
- Research Intern, Institute of Zoology, UK, 2009 - 2010
- Research Assistant, University of Sussex, UK, 2008 - 2008
Non-academic
- Postgraduate Fellow, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2014 - 2014
Highlighted publications
- Sánchez AC, Jones SK, Purvis A, Estrada-Carmona N, De Palma A (2022) Landscape complexity and functional groups moderate the effect of diversified farming on biodiversity: A global meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 332, 107933 - 107933. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2022.107933
- 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. Advances in Ecological Research. Elsevier 163 - 199. doi: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2017.12.004
- De Palma A, Kuhlmann M, Bugter R, Ferrier S, Hoskins AJ, Potts SG, Roberts SPM, Schweiger O, Purvis A (2017) Dimensions of biodiversity loss: Spatial mismatch in land‐use impacts on species, functional and phylogenetic diversity of European bees. Beggs J (Eds). Diversity and Distributions 23, 1435 - 1446. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12638
- De Palma A, Dennis RLH, Brereton T, Leather SR, Oliver TH (2017) Large reorganizations in butterfly communities during an extreme weather event. Ecography 40, 577 - 585. doi: 10.1111/ecog.02228
- 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, 288 - 291. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf2201
- De Palma A, Kuhlmann M, Roberts SPM, Potts SG, Börger L, Hudson LN, Lysenko I, Newbold T, Purvis A (2015) Ecological traits affect the sensitivity of bees to land‐use pressures in European agricultural landscapes. Kaplan I (Eds). Journal of Applied Ecology 52, 1567 - 1577. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12524
- De Palma A, Abrahamczyk S, Aizen MA, Albrecht M, Basset Y, Bates A, Blake RJ, Boutin C, Bugter R, Connop S, Cruz-López L, Cunningham SA, Darvill B, Diekötter T, Dorn S, Downing N, Entling MH, Farwig N, Felicioli A, Fonte SJ, Fowler R, Franzén M, Goulson D, Grass I, Hanley ME, Hendrix SD, Herrmann F, Herzog F, Holzschuh A, Jauker B, Kessler M, Knight ME, Kruess A, Lavelle P, Le Féon V, Lentini P, Malone LA, Marshall J, Pachón EM, McFrederick QS, Morales CL, Mudri-Stojnic S, Nates-Parra G, Nilsson SG, Öckinger E, Osgathorpe L, Parra-H A, Peres CA, Persson AS, Petanidou T, Poveda K, Power EF, Quaranta M, Quintero C, Rader R, Richards MH, Roulston T, Rousseau L, Sadler JP, Samnegård U, Schellhorn NA, Schüepp C, Schweiger O, Smith-Pardo AH, Steffan-Dewenter I, Stout JC, Tonietto RK, Tscharntke T, Tylianakis JM, Verboven HAF, Vergara CH, Verhulst J, Westphal C, Yoon HJ, Purvis A Predicting bee community responses to land-use changes: Effects of geographic and taxonomic biases. Scientific Reports 6, doi: 10.1038/srep31153
- De Palma A, Hoskins A, Gonzalez RE, Börger L, Newbold T, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Ferrier S, Purvis A Annual changes in the Biodiversity Intactness Index in tropical and subtropical forest biomes, 2001–2012. Scientific Reports 11, doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98811-1
Highlighted publications
- Sánchez AC, Jones SK, Purvis A, Estrada-Carmona N, De Palma A (2022) Landscape complexity and functional groups moderate the effect of diversified farming on biodiversity: A global meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 332, 107933 - 107933. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2022.107933
- 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. Advances in Ecological Research. Elsevier 163 - 199. doi: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2017.12.004
- De Palma A, Kuhlmann M, Bugter R, Ferrier S, Hoskins AJ, Potts SG, Roberts SPM, Schweiger O, Purvis A (2017) Dimensions of biodiversity loss: Spatial mismatch in land‐use impacts on species, functional and phylogenetic diversity of European bees. Beggs J (Eds). Diversity and Distributions 23, 1435 - 1446. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12638
- De Palma A, Dennis RLH, Brereton T, Leather SR, Oliver TH (2017) Large reorganizations in butterfly communities during an extreme weather event. Ecography 40, 577 - 585. doi: 10.1111/ecog.02228
- 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, 288 - 291. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf2201
- De Palma A, Kuhlmann M, Roberts SPM, Potts SG, Börger L, Hudson LN, Lysenko I, Newbold T, Purvis A (2015) Ecological traits affect the sensitivity of bees to land‐use pressures in European agricultural landscapes. Kaplan I (Eds). Journal of Applied Ecology 52, 1567 - 1577. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12524
- De Palma A, Abrahamczyk S, Aizen MA, Albrecht M, Basset Y, Bates A, Blake RJ, Boutin C, Bugter R, Connop S, Cruz-López L, Cunningham SA, Darvill B, Diekötter T, Dorn S, Downing N, Entling MH, Farwig N, Felicioli A, Fonte SJ, Fowler R, Franzén M, Goulson D, Grass I, Hanley ME, Hendrix SD, Herrmann F, Herzog F, Holzschuh A, Jauker B, Kessler M, Knight ME, Kruess A, Lavelle P, Le Féon V, Lentini P, Malone LA, Marshall J, Pachón EM, McFrederick QS, Morales CL, Mudri-Stojnic S, Nates-Parra G, Nilsson SG, Öckinger E, Osgathorpe L, Parra-H A, Peres CA, Persson AS, Petanidou T, Poveda K, Power EF, Quaranta M, Quintero C, Rader R, Richards MH, Roulston T, Rousseau L, Sadler JP, Samnegård U, Schellhorn NA, Schüepp C, Schweiger O, Smith-Pardo AH, Steffan-Dewenter I, Stout JC, Tonietto RK, Tscharntke T, Tylianakis JM, Verboven HAF, Vergara CH, Verhulst J, Westphal C, Yoon HJ, Purvis A Predicting bee community responses to land-use changes: Effects of geographic and taxonomic biases. Scientific Reports 6, doi: 10.1038/srep31153
- De Palma A, Hoskins A, Gonzalez RE, Börger L, Newbold T, Sanchez-Ortiz K, Ferrier S, Purvis A Annual changes in the Biodiversity Intactness Index in tropical and subtropical forest biomes, 2001–2012. Scientific Reports 11, doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98811-1