New Academy Professor Otso Ovaskainen is a world-class expert in ecological modelling: he heads one-of-a-kind global research exploring the diversity of nature

Academy Professor Otso Ovaskainen started as a professor of mathematical and statistical ecology at the University of Jyväskylä on 2 January 2021. He moved to Jyväskylä from his position as a professor of mathematical ecology at the University of Helsinki, where he has worked since 2009. High level research and nature encouraged Ovaskainen to move to Jyväskylä.
Otso Ovaskainen is leading an internationally unique study in which the diversity of nature is mapped at the same time in over 450 locations all over the world. Credit: University of Jyväskylä
Published
1.2.2021

Professor Otso Ovaskainen is a world-class expert in mathematical and statistical modelling. He has developed new methods for empirical data collection and statistical analysis in ecological research. The methods have been used all over the world.
He has published 200 articles in high-profile scientific journals and his studies have been cited 13,000 times.

Currently, Ovaskainen is leading an internationally unique study in which the diversity of nature is mapped at the same time in over 450 locations all over the world. Data on species are collected through DNA and audio samples and camera trap photos utilising automation-based methods. In 2019, the research received 12 million euros of ERC funding.

“We know that the decline in biodiversity is accelerating, but we still know surprisingly little about the current state of the diversity of nature,” says Ovaskainen.

“For example, most fungi and insects are still unknown to science, which means we do not know where and what kind of diversity we are losing. Our ERC project responds to this challenge by systematically mapping the species of the world and modelling their dependency on the use of land and climate-related factors.”

Ovaskainen’s goal is to combine mathematical and statistical modelling with new, automated methods for gathering ecological data. With these tools, the dynamics of natural diversity can be better understood and forecasted.

High level research and nature encouraged Ovaskainen to move to Jyväskylä

Ovaskainen started at the Department of Biological and Environmental Science in January. There were many factors that encouraged Ovaskainen to move to Jyväskylä.

“Research in ecology and conservation biology is on a high level in Jyväskylä, and the department has a positive and active atmosphere,” Ovaskainen says.

“I am also attracted to the city of Jyväskylä and the surrounding nature with its lakes and forests.”

Ovaskainen received the Academy of Finland Award for Scientific Courage in 2009 and the Väisälä Award of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters in 2018.

He completed his doctoral degree in mathematics at the Helsinki University of Technology in 1998. He has been the scientist-in-charge of the Metapopulation Research Centre since 2006 and the director of the centre since 2015. In addition to the professorship at the University of Helsinki, Ovaskainen has been a visiting professor of a Norwegian centre of excellence since 2014.

Link to press release (17.2.2021) about two new Academy Professors at the University of Jyväskylä.

For further information:
Professor Otso Ovaskainen (starting 2 January 2021), otso.t.ovaskainen@jyu.fi, tel. +358 50 3092795

The Faculty of Mathematics and Science
Communications Specialist Tanja Heikkinen, tanja.s.heikkinen@jyu.fi, +358 50 472 1162
https://www.jyu.fi/science/en
jyuscience jyuscience jyuscience