Priyanga Amarasekare

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Priyanga Amarasekare
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; (PhD institution if different)
Known forTrophic ecology; biodiversity; species dispersal; impacts of climate change
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship (2021); ESA Robert H. MacArthur Award (2022)
Scientific career
FieldsEcology, Evolutionary Biology, Mathematical Biology
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Priyanga Amarasekare is an American ecologist. She is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and distinguished fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). Her research is in the fields of mathematical biology and trophic ecology, with a focus on understanding patterns of biodiversity, species dispersal and the impacts of climate change. [1] She received a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship [2] and received ESA's Robert H. MacArthur Award in 2022. [3]

Contents

Career

Amarasekare earned a Master of Science in zoology from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa in 1991. Her thesis was titled Potential impact of mammalian nest predators on Mamane-Naio woodland birds of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. [4] After her PhD, she worked at the University of Chicago. [5]

Amarasekare is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research focuses on biological and ecological mechanisms that maintain biological diversity in variable environments and how understanding of these dynamics can predict how patterns of diversity may change in variable environments. [1]

Her work is distinguished for its strong mechanistic focus combined with a tight integration between theory and data. [1] She has been a leading figure in the field of mathematical biology as her studies have sought to find results that definitively highlight the non-linearities of biological systems through mathematical analyses. [6] Amarasekare's work has made significant contributions to the dynamics of population regulation, species interactions and the evolution of dispersal, as well as the effect of climate change on the diversity of multi-trophic communities. [1]

From 2004 to 2005, Amarasekare served as the vice chair officer of the Ecological Society of America's Theory Section. She subsequently served as Chair Officer of the Theory Section from 2005 to 2006. [5]

In 2017, Amarasekare was named a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America for "distinguished contributions to theoretical ecology, particularly our understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of populations and communities." [7]

Following administrative hearings in September 2021, UCLA suspended Amarasekare for one year without pay beginning in June 2022 and with a 20 percent salary reduction for the subsequent two years. She is also barred from entering UCLA facilities, communicating with students, or accessing NSF-funded research during this time. The university did not publicly disclose the reasons for her suspension, and prohibited her from disclosing them either. But, a released copy of the hearing committee's report suggests that Amarasekare was alleged to have breached confidentiality and called attention to discriminatory behavior by her colleagues, with the committee recommending only a censure. [8] When the report was referred to chancellor Gene Block, the chancellor instead enacted a suspension. More than 500 scientists from around the world signed a January 2023 petition calling for Amarasekare's reinstatement. [9] [10] [8] [11] She was placed on administrative leave immediately following the end of her suspension and remains on leave one year later (as of July 2024). [12]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | indivfaculty" . Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  2. ↑ "Guggenheim Fellowship | guggenheim". gf.org. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  3. ↑ "ESA Macarthur Award | Press Release". esa.org. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  4. ↑ "Zoology Graduate Degrees Awarded | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Biology". manoa.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  5. 1 2 "Theory Section Officers". Ecological Society of America. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "Priyanga Amarasekare joins Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution". Science & research news | Frontiers. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  7. ↑ "Amarasekare named Fellow of the Ecological Society of America". UCLA. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  8. 1 2 "UCLA Punished a Prominent Scientist for 'Destructive and Harmful Conduct.' She Says It's 'Unjust Persecution.'".
  9. ↑ Tollefson, Jeff (2023-01-23). "Scientists petition UCLA to reverse ecologist's suspension". Nature. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  10. ↑ Mangan, Katherine (2023-01-25). "After Mysterious Suspension of Award-Winning UCLA Professor, Scientists Fight Back". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  11. ↑ Tollefson, Jeff (2023-02-24). "Exclusive: Documents raise questions about UCLA's suspension of ecologist" . Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-00473-8. PMID   36829063.
  12. ↑ "Home". My Site 3. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  13. ↑ Leibold, M. A.; Holyoak, M.; Mouquet, N.; Amarasekare, P.; Chase, J. M.; Hoopes, M. F.; Holt, R. D.; Shurin, J. B.; Law, R.; Tilman, D.; Loreau, M. (2004). "The metacommunity concept: a framework for multi-scale community ecology". Ecology Letters. 7 (7): 601–613. Bibcode:2004EcolL...7..601L. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00608.x . ISSN   1461-0248.
  14. ↑ Bolnick, Daniel I.; Amarasekare, Priyanga; Araújo, Márcio S.; Bürger, Reinhard; Levine, Jonathan M.; Novak, Mark; Rudolf, Volker H.W.; Schreiber, Sebastian J.; Urban, Mark C.; Vasseur, David A. (April 2011). "Why intraspecific trait variation matters in community ecology". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 26 (4): 183–192. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.009. PMC   3088364 . PMID   21367482.
  15. ↑ Ashman, Tia-Lynn; Knight, Tiffany M.; Steets, Janette A.; Amarasekare, Priyanga; Burd, Martin; Campbell, Diane R.; Dudash, Michele R.; Johnston, Mark O.; Mazer, Susan J.; Mitchell, Randall J.; Morgan, Martin T. (2004). "Pollen Limitation of Plant Reproduction: Ecological and Evolutionary Causes and Consequences" . Ecology. 85 (9): 2408–2421. Bibcode:2004Ecol...85.2408A. doi:10.1890/03-8024. ISSN   1939-9170.
  16. ↑ Amarasekare, Priyanga (2003). "Competitive coexistence in spatially structured environments: a synthesis". Ecology Letters. 6 (12): 1109–1122. Bibcode:2003EcolL...6.1109A. doi: 10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00530.x . ISSN   1461-0248.
  17. ↑ Amarasekare, Priyanga; Nisbet, Roger M. (2001-12-01). "Spatial Heterogeneity, Source-Sink Dynamics, and the Local Coexistence of Competing Species" . The American Naturalist. 158 (6): 572–584. doi:10.1086/323586. ISSN   0003-0147. PMID   18707352. S2CID   2938946.
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