About us
Who we are
Our team approaches research from the perspective that we face a triple planetary crisis and seek to help address it. We are interdisciplinary, with backgrounds in ecology, computer science, philosophy, and social sciences, spanning career stages from BSc to professor. While culturally diverse, most of us are of European descent; some members identify as Latin American or First Nation. Most of us are affiliated with institutions in the Northern hemisphere (notably Germany and Canada). Most of our interactions, discussions, and work outputs are in English.
Our position and funding opportunities influence our work, including the development of our ideas and outcomes, for example, from how we understand causality and select knowledge sources to the problems we prioritize and the methods we use. Moreover, our position comports the risk of overlooking certain knowledge bearers that would have been relevant to conceptualizing specific solutions. In particular, the use of the English language neglects other languages and risks overlooking different knowledge systems.
To minimize the impact of these biases, we have adopted a broad approach that is iterative and interactive. This approach aims to create safe spaces where diverse ideas and opinions can be heard, valued and considered. This space fosters self-reflection among team members to minimize the propagation of our biases. Furthermore, we are passionate about diversifying our community also to include people beyond academia.
How are we organized
Given our vision is a very ambitious one, a single project could never be large enough to realize it. The idea is therefore to strive for a number of projects and individual activities, all working towards this joint vision.
We invite everyone interested in collaborative efforts towards the joint vision to take the initiative and contribute with their own projects, papers or other activities.
General work ethics
- We commit to the rules of good scientific practice as spelled out by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14281892
- Transparency: We share paper projects and proposal ideas for EcoWeaver and TReK early by adding them to GitHub (https://ecoweaver.github.io/) and notifying the group via the mailing list. This helps identify synergies, encourage collaboration, and prevent conflicts.
- Avoid over-committing: Before joining a project or proposal, we assess our availability to ensure fair workload sharing and hold regular check-ins to avoid overcommitment.
- Communicate and consider dependencies: When papers/proposals/work activities are built on each other or are tightly connected, we clearly communicate dependencies and promptly share any delays or major changes.
Joint publications
- Co-authorship: We distinguish between open and closed papers. Open papers are listed on GitHub, open to all, with co-authorship conditions specified. Closed papers are led by the first author, with basic information shared on GitHub to keep others in the loop. We prioritize involving early career researchers, though ensure fair workload distribution in line with good scientific practice, as well as aim to build mentoring relationships with each other
- Different publication practices across disciplines:
When deciding on co-authorship and author order, we account for disciplinary norms. E.g. in philosophy, single-author papers are common and only early author positions carry weight. In ecology, first authorship reflects the main contributor and last authorship often signals supervision. In computer science, peer-reviewed conference papers are more common than journal articles. - Acknowledgements: If appropriate, we acknowledge the EcoWeaver & TReK collaboration, e.g.: “This is a contribution by the EcoWeaver & TReK collaboration within the Hi Knowledge initiative (https://ecoweaver.hi-knowledge.org).”
Joint proposals
For proposals, the lead PI builds the team (or writes those themselves) and ensures transparency to avoid internal competition. All contributors are informed of risks, and workload is shared fairly. If funded, the PI controls the budget but should be transparent about decisions. Ideally, open positions should be announced within the collaboration through a clear application process.
Faces of EcoWeaver & TReK
My main research topic is knowledge synthesis in ecology, and I am interested in how scientific practice can be improved by teaming up with other disciplines.
Tina Heger
Ecologist
I am a computer scientist specializing in distributed information systems and semantic web technologies, with a focus on research data management. One primary application domain is ecology.
Birgitta König-Ries
Computer scientist
I am studying the epistemology and metaphysics of causality in complex systems, especially in ecology. I’m also interested in how formal ontologies can structure heterogeneous and evolving knowledge domains.
Robert Frühstückl
Philosopher and Historian of science
I am a translational ecologist working on engagement, open knowledge systems and communities of practice.
Tim Alamenciak
Ecologist
All members
I’m a computer scientist focused on Ontology modelling and Knowledge Graph construction for biological data, making semantic technologies more accessible to ecologists and biodiversity researchers.
Tarek Al Mustafa
Computer scientist
Data and knowledge engineering, scientific data management, ontology and knowledge graph
Alsayed Algergawy
Computer scientist
I am an ecologist working on modelling different aspects of ecosystems, interested in improving ecological theories so that they can be used to address challenges faced by local communities more
Carlos Alberto Arnillas
Ecologist
Sarah Bachinger
Computer scientist
I am a philosopher of science specializing in environmental philosophy and ethics. I study how biodiversity measurement and monitoring practices inform conservation interventions and affect environmental justice.
Federica Bocchi
Philosopher
I am interested in community ecology (particularly plant invasions and parasitism) and ecological synthesis, particularly how spatial and temporal scale interact with the ecological processes and how this adds complexity
Joshua Brian
Ecologist
Léna Bureau
Ethnozoology scientist
My research focuses on NLP and AI, particularly automated semantic modeling for scientific text mining, ontology learning and matching, and generative AI–based evaluation. I enjoy collaborating across domains.
Jennifer D’Souza
Computer scientist
I am studying how species interactions shape ecological communities and how global change disrupts them. My work integrates empirical and theoretical approaches to improve predictions and guide ecosystem restoration.
Isabel Donoso
Ecologist
I am an environmental geoscientist using sediment and peat cores, paleoenvironmental proxies, and Mi’kmaw Traditional Knowledge to understand ecological change and how it can inform Indigenous-led stewardship and governance.
Kian Drew
Ecologist and Geoscientist
My research examines how complexity affects ecological systems—particularly generalisation, knowledge transfer, and predictability—and explores the role of applied science in restoration ecology.
Alkistis Elliott-Graves
Philosopher
My research focuses on data engineering and integration, with an interest in advancing data synthesis techniques to better understand complex ecosystems, thereby supporting ecosystem restoration and conservation.
Anika Groß
Computer scientist
Further associated people
Khalil Al-Katib
Zora Arose
Daphne Auer
Lars Bengel
Marc Brinner
Steven Cooke
Catherine Febria
Naouel Karam
Clemens Krauss
Katherine (Katie) Morrow
Bartolome Ortiz
Manuel Pacheco-Romero
Nora Pfützenreuther
Moritz Plentz
Line Rochefort
Sandra Rojas Botero
Carlos Santana
Markus Stocker
Oliver Szasz
Matthias Thimm
Alican Tüzün
Steph Tyszka
Funding acknowledgements
