Dr. Aafke Schipper

Biography

Aafke Schipper studies the responses of biodiversity and ecosystems to human-induced changes in the environment. She develops models to determine how human activities influence plants and animals at local and global scales. Her overarching research interest lies in quantifying and understanding biodiversity responses to anthropogenic environmental change. In addition, she aims to apply her knowledge to integrated assessments that support environmental policy and biodiversity conservation. In her research, she employs a combination of statistical and process-based modeling, thereby covering a variety of taxonomic groups (including plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates), a range of anthropogenic pressures (such as climate change, land use, and chemical pollution), and different spatial scales (from local to global). She believes that comparative integrated approaches are helpful in shedding light on the context and scale-dependency of biodiversity change.

Research Interests