About me

Hello! My name is Krishna Girish (he/him), and I’m a quantitative global change ecologist, using mathematical models and large datasets to predict how global-scale environmental change affect ecosystems. My primary aim is to use these techniques to quantify risks to ecosystems, predict their future trajectories, and identify effective conservation interventions. Since October 2025, I have been working as a PhD student in the BioDICée (Biodiversity Dynamics) research group at the Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM) in Montpellier, France, supervised by Vasilis Dakos and Claire Jacquet. As part of this, I work on the ClimTip project, coupling species geographical range data with high-resolution global simulations of past and future climates to predict and model risks to global biodiversity, with a particular interest in the impacts of climate tipping points and extreme events. Before this, I spent a year as a Research Engineer on the same project.

In general, my interests lie in using general mathematical frameworks from dynamical systems, network models, and probability theory, coupled with machine learning, data analytics and simulations to predict how complex biological systems respond to environmental changes. This involves synthesizing and inferring patterns from large environmental data along with rigorous analytical approaches to build powerful predictive frameworks.

In May 2024, I completed a BS-MS with Distinction in Biology (with a minor in Mathematics) from IISER, Pune in India. For my masters’ thesis, I worked with Prof. Serguei Saavedra in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I used tools from the framework of empirical dynamic modeling (EDM) and causal inference to assess determinants and trajectories of post-perturbation recovery in human gut microbiota. I’ve also worked extensively on different facets of thermal ecology using large public datasets and meta-analysis techniques- I spent a large part of my undergraduate degree working with Prof. Umesh Srinivasan at the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India to use community science data (sourced from eBird) to model upward range shifts in montane birds. Additionally, I have been working with Prof. Deepak Barua at IISER Pune to identify determinants of thermal maxima plasticity in plant populations across the world, and have studied whole-genome splicing architectures using bioinformatic clustering algorithms. See more about these on the Projects page of this site.

When I’m not cooking up some elaborate function in RStudio or some variant of the Lotka-Volterra equations, I enjoy birdwatching, with a particular fondness for montane and coastal ecosystems. I listen to a lot of indie rock music (and make arrangements for the violin), write quiz questions for global quiz leagues, and write poetry about nature and science. I also play a lot of competitive Pokemon. I have an Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath number of 15.

You can find more about my projects, publications, and my résumé in the other tabs on this site. Feel free to reach out to me at krishnasg AT gmail.com if you want to know more or potentially collaborate on something cool- I’m interested in pretty much anything relating to climate change vulnerability, ecological theory, dynamical systems modeling, the anthropocene, or birds.