SESS is led by Chris Topping who is an ecological modeller with 30 years modelling experience and a background in agricultural zoology. He is the instigator for and main developer for ALMaSS. Currently vice-chair of the EFSA PPR panel he works with environmental risk assessment as well as wildlife and human modelling.

Xiaodong is a postdoc with a background in machine learning and agent based modelling with various application areas including ecological modelling, robotics and building research. Currently, he mainly works on development of new species models for ALMaSS and model validation and sensitivity analysis using machine learning methods. 

James is a social scientist. He specialises in researching and applying theoretical concepts in decision-making processes for natural resource management. His particular areas of interest are adaptive management, decision modelling, multi-actor engagement and social learning. He is involved in a two EU H2020 projects, EcoStack and B-Good, the latter as work package leader for the project's multi-actor approach.

Andrey is a biomedical engineer by education (MSc Tel Aviv University, PhD Aarhus University). He has industrial and scientific expertise in system programming, biophysical models, medical imaging and data processing. On the daily basis Andrey works with the expert biologists on the development of the animal models, translating the models into the C++ code, debugging and testing them.

Jordan is our newest member to the Danish core team. He is a computational ecologist from Trinity College Dublin, with an interest in using individual-based models (IBMs) to gain insights into ecological and social systems. As part of the PoshBee project, he is currently working on creating a framework for Bombus sp. modelling within the ALMaSS framework. He will then parameterise the first ALMaSS Bombus sp. individual-based model for Bombus terrestris which will be used to assess the risks associated with different farming practices, as well as gaining insights into bumblebee ecology. Jordan is also working on the creation of spatial input data for Ireland to go into ALMaSS. Jordan has used IBMs while at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Leeds, to explore habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. This research included species habitat preference and coexistence conducting spatial analysis and developing a weighted version of a metric of habitat association, the phi coefficient of association, and testing this looking at carabid habitat association.

Jordan worked on remote sensing using LiDAR and hyperspectral imagery to explore the māmane (Sophora chrysophylla)/naio (Myoporum sandwicense) cloud forest of the Big Island of Hawai‘i, to explore the reasons for the decline of the endangered Hawaiian bird species Palila (Loxioides bailleui) while completing a Masters and lecturing at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

During his time at Forest Research, the research agency of the British Forestry Commission, as a spatial landscape ecologist, Jordan worked with local councils and forest districts across Scotland and Northern England integrating habitat and people networks into planning. He created decision support tools taking into consideration reaching targets for biodiversity, people and hydrological planning. Jordan also collaborated with national parks, Scottish Natural Heritage and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), including work looking at the impacts of forestry on heathland birds.

Luna is M.Sc in biology, and has expertise in assisting administration and coordination of SESS-involved EU-projects, of project meetings and workshops, and communication with partners and stakeholders. She also assists with ALMaSS updates related to crop management. 

Peet has a MSc in Biology. He supports the SESS team regarding coordination and desk research on pollinators, pesticides and risk assessment, as well as species modelling by searching and providing information on species' biological parameters needed to model species' behaviour and specifications.  

Martin is an animal ecologist whose recent research largely focuses on the spatial ecology of mammals in human-dominated landscapes, providing insights on how human land use affects wildlife populations. Hereby, his work contributes to building an understanding of how wild mammal populations function in our human-dominated epoch. Moreover, his previous research on beavers focused on understanding how animal behavior and movement affects population dynamics and vice versa.