Clear figures - stronger stories
In today’s post, I want to share what I’ve learned about creating clear figures that effectively communicate scientific results. This is the written version of a lecture from my “Scientific Workflows” lecture series.
About Me
I am a computational ecologist, modeller and scientific programmer based in Berlin.
Apart from my research, I help students and fellow researchers to improve their workflows and to follow good practices.
Teaching
I teach students and researchers how to make their research workflows efficient and reproducible, using open tools and adopting good practices.
I focus especially on statistics, data analysis and modelling code, but I also developed workshops on version control (Git), and note-taking and second-brain software (Obsidian).
I believe that reproducible, open and efficient workflows are essential for producing high-quality scientific research. Using the right tools and workflows not only enhances the reliability of our work but also significantly improves our quality of life as researchers, making our processes smoother, more reliable, and more satisfying.
A single day spent improving your workflow significantly impacts your research quality for the rest of the year.
You can check out my workshops and my talks, as well as additional content on my YouTube channel.
Research
Currently, I am involved in different research projects mainly focussing on the scale dependency of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in temperate grasslands.
During my PhD, I looked add the effects of biological soil crusts on dryland hydrology using process-based models.
Checkout my publications for more information.
Interests
- Good scientific practice
- Data analysis
- Ecological modelling
- R programming
- Git and GitHub
Education
Theoretical Ecology (Dr. rer. nat.)
Freie Universität Berlin
Geoecology (M.Sc.)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Geoecology (B.Sc.)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Recent posts
Publications
(2023).
Biocrusts Intensify Water Redistribution and Improve Water Availability to Dryland Vegetation: Insights from a Spatially-Explicit Ecohydrological Model.
Frontiers in Microbiology 14 (2023).
(2022).
Browsing Herbivores Improve the State and Functioning of Savannas: A Model Assessment of Alternative Land-Use Strategies.
Ecology and Evolution 12 (3), pp. e8715.
(2021).
Relative Humidity Predominantly Determines Long-Term Biocrust-Forming Lichen Cover in Drylands under Climate Change.
Journal of Ecology 109 (3), pp. 1370–1385.