Giulio Valentino Dalla Riva
Biomathematician; mountain lover, metal head, with a taste for complexity.
I’m fascinated by the interaction between evolution and ecology.
gvd16@uclive.ac.nz
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Relevant work experiences
- 2016 -
- Postdoc, Biomathematics; Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre
University of British Columbia (Vancouver, CA)
Research Areas: Food webs evolution, Semantic networks, ecology, evolution
Supervisors: Michael Doebeli - 2012
- Communication consultant; Impact Hub Trentino, (Rovereto, IT)
Marketing and communication consultant, public relations, press relations. - 2011
- Project development; Deltalab, (Trento, IT)
Development of an European Framework Program 7, large, transnational grant application. - 2008 - 2012
- Academic Senate, Department, student representative; University of Trento, (Trento, IT)
Education
- 2013-2016
- PhD, Biomathematics; University of Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ)
Thesis title: The Evolving Web of Life: exploring the interplay of ecological and evolutionary processes
Supervisors: Mike Steel, Daniel B. Stouffer and Charles Semple
Grant: Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution - 2010-2012
- Laurea specialistica (MSc.), Mathematics; Università di Trento (Trento, IT);
Thesis title: Information Spreading in Complex Networks; Magna cum Laude - 2008-2009
- Erasmus Program, Mathematics; Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI, FR)
- 2004-2009
- Laurea (BSc.), Mathematics; Università di Trento (Trento, IT)
Grant: INdAM (Italian National Institute for Advanced Mathematics)
Research Interests:
- EcoEvo
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Food webs; Food webs assembly and dynamics; their response to anthropic pressure; the role of species interactions in ecosystems and their drivers.
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Phylogenetics; Evolutionary models and their possible extension to handle the effects of species interaction: ecology-aware phylogenetics analysis.
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Network evolution The origin, evolution and dismantling of ecological networks; the effect of speciation/extinction events on ecosystems.
- Networks
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Local/Global properties; The connection between local and global network properties, such as centralities, motifs, dynamical stability.
- Maths
- Phylogenetic Comparative Methods; Dynamical processes on and of Complex Networks; Networks statistical modelling and analysis; Random Matrices.
Skills
- Maths and Stats
- Modelling and investigation of random networks models;
Nonlinear Dynamical Systems;
Data Analysis for biology;
Evolutionary Game Theory;
Probability; Stochastic Differential Equations. - Programming
- Julia, Python, R: Major research activity, advanced skills.
C, C++, Java, Fortran, Pascal: Minor research or study experience, basic skills.
Matlab: Three years as tutor for a course in mathematical modelling.
HTML, CSS, LaTeX, markdown, etc. . - Outreach
- 5+ years working experience as science communicator, journalist, and event organizer; two years as marketing and project manager.
- Languages
- Italian, native; English, full working proficiency; French, working proficiency.
- Teaching
- Tutor and teaching assistant for the undergraduate courses in Engineering Mathematics, Mathematical Modelling and Computation, Regression Modelling (UC, 3 years). Mentor for first year students (Dept. of Mathematics, UniTrento, 2 years).
Projects
- Published:
- (2016) - gvdr, Daniel B. Stouffer, Exploring the evolutionary signature of food webs’ backbones using functional traits - Oikos (Editor’s pick).
- Working (write me for more info and manuscripts extracts):
- with Michael Doebeli (UBC), The evolution of semantic networks under ecological pressures
- with Arne Mooers (SFU) and Mike Steel (UC), Assessing network connectivity through random walks
- gvdr, Evolutionary distinctiviness and network centrality
- with Alyssa R. Cirtwill, Nick J. Baker, Josh Thia, Christie Webber, Daniel B. Stouffer (UC), Phylogenetic conservation of species roles in bipartite ecological networks: the case of mutualistic and antagonistic food webs
- with Timothée Poisot (Université de Montréal) and lab, A guide to analyzing species interaction networks
Selected Presentations
- 2015
- The (evolving) web of life
New Zealand Phylogenomics Meeting (Portobello, NZ). - Randomness and evolutionary histories in food webs
Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution (Paris, FR) - Stochasticy and evolution in food webs
Granada Seminar (Granada, ES) - Evolving in a tangled world
Mathematical and Computational Evolutionary Biology (Porquerolles, FR); Hélène Morlon’s lab, Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris, FR).
- The (evolving) web of life
- 2014
- Some ideas for including ecology in phylogenetic comparative methods
Theoretical Biology group, ETH Zürich (Zürich, CH). - The Web Traits and the Tree
Mathematical and Computational Evolutionary Biology (Hameau de l’Etoile, FR); New Zealand Phylogenomics Meeting (Waiheke, NZ); Greifswald Phylogenetics Meeting (Greifswald, DE).
- Some ideas for including ecology in phylogenetic comparative methods
- 2012
- Infograph: toward the modelling of communication dependent ecological networks
Intl. Workshop on Network Models in Statistics, Economics and Social Sciences (Trento, IT).
- Infograph: toward the modelling of communication dependent ecological networks
gvd16@uclive.ac.nz • +64-3-364-2987 ext 4869
Biomathematics Research Centre
University of Canterbury
Christchurch, New Zealand