Alexandre Antonelli

Research Director at Kew Gardens, UK, and Professor in Biodiversity at University of Gothenburg

Membership period 2016–2019

I work in biogeography, a topic within biology that investigates how climate, the environment and the landscape influence biodiversity. Why are there so many more species in Amazonia than in a Swedish spruce forest? Where do all the plants and animals in these regions come from, when did they diverge from their closest relatives, and how will they be affected by on-going climatic and environmental changes? These are some of the questions that my research group and I try to answer by analysing present-day and past data from millions of years ago. By assessing how different species and ecosystems were affected by previous periods of global warming and other drastic events - such as the meteorite that killed all dinosaurs except for birds - we try to understand which features characterise winners and losers. Robust estimates are needed to influence the political opinion and thereby focus global resources on the most important threats against biodiversity.

Clip about one of Alexandre Antonellis projects: The Past, Present and Future of Neotropical Biodiversity (Credit: Alphafilm & Kommunikation)

Click to enlarge Photo: Erik Thor/Young Academy of Sweden

Alexandre Antonelli Foto: Magnus Bergström

(Click for high resolution image) Photo: Magnus Bergström / Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse

IN BRIEF

Born: 1978
Family: Wife Anna, children Gabriel (born 2004) and the twins Clara and Maria (born 2006)
Interests: Running (a couple of times per week together with colleagues in the beautiful Botanic Garden and Änggårdsbergen), carpentry with the kids, collecting bugs, photography.

Young Academy of Sweden
c/o The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Box 50005
SE-104 05 Stockholm
Sweden

+ 46 (0)8 673 9500
info@sverigesungaakademi.se

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