Previous MEB conferences

Conference Program Overview

The program features keynote talks, participant presentations, a conference excursion, a welcome event, dinner, awards, and a hands-on workshop.

Keynotes

Lauren Buckley – Biology professor at the University of Washington. She studies how organisms respond ecologically and evolutionarily to climate change, combining fieldwork, lab work, modeling, and ecoinformatics. She leads the TrEnCh project, developing tools to model environmental change impacts.

Kristoffer Hylander – Plant Ecology professor at Stockholm University. His research focuses on biodiversity in natural and human-altered systems, particularly how overstory vegetation influences understory microclimates, with implications for climate adaptation in conservation.

Michael Kearney – Ecology and Evolution professor at the University of Melbourne. He specializes in modeling microclimates and organismal energy and mass budgets, primarily in terrestrial systems. He created and maintains the NicheMapR modeling package.

Eduardo Maeda – Associate professor at the University of Helsinki and Finnish Meteorological Institute. His work uses remote sensing and modeling to study terrestrial ecosystem changes. He leads field experiments in the Amazon, Malaysia, and Kenya as head of the TreeD Lab.

Timo Vesala – Meteorology professor at the University of Helsinki. He researches biosphere-atmosphere interactions and biogeochemical cycles, especially carbon and water in various ecosystems. He also engages in science communication and art-science collaborations.

Conference Excursion

• Where: Nuuksio National Park

• Highlights: Diverse boreal ecosystems, flying squirrel habitats, unique microclimates

Welcome Event

• Where: Helsinki City Hall, Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13

• When: Monday 26.8.2024, 18:30–19:30

• Includes: Welcome speech, light snacks and drinks

Conference Dinner

• Where: Mestaritalli Restaurant, Merikannontie 6, Helsinki

Awards Ceremony

Awards for best poster and best talk (early career researchers)

• Sponsors:

  • Best Poster: Ecography (Nordic Society Oikos)

  • Best Talk: Journal of Applied Ecology (British Ecological Society)

Workshop: “Modelling Microclimates with NicheMapR”

• Instructor: Michael Kearney, University of Melbourne

• Topics:

  • Mechanistic niche models

  • Using NicheMapR and R Shiny apps

  • Modelling soil temps, radiation, microclimates, ectotherms

  • Hands-on coding and troubleshooting in R