Main
Quinn Asena
I’m interested in ecological dynamics and mechanisms that underlie change in ecosystems over time and space. My main research focus is around biotic interactions and how ecosystems respond to environmental and climate change. Much of my previous research has focused on long-term ecological trajectories and palaeoecology. Now, I am exploring contemporary ecosystem change through process-based models.
Education
PhD, University of Auckland
School of Environment
Auckland, NZ
2021 - 2017
- Exploring virtual ecological methods for generating pseudoproxy data to assess statistical inferences under data uncertainty.
- Supervised by George Perry and Janet Wilmshurst.
MEnv. Environmental Science
University of York
York, UK
2016 - 2012
- 1st class integrated masters degree in environmental science. Master’s researched involved environmental monitoring using sensor networks and robotics.
- Courses included: Ecological Principles; Biogeography, Applied Ecology and Environmental Management; Protected Areas; Design and Implementation; Climate Change: Science, Observation & Impacts; Research Skills and Statistical Methods.
Music School
Royal Academy of Music
London, UK
2010 - 2005
- Study in performance, composition and musical theory. Multiple competition awards.
- ABRSM Grade 8 Piano Performance.
- ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory.
Certified Carpentries instructor
Global digital skills community
Virtual
N/A
- Certified to host and assist in running workshops from The Carpentries organisation.
Selected Positions
Data Scientist
Cary Institute for Environmental Sciences
New York State
Present - 2025
- Modelling boreal forests and ecological processes.
Mentor for PhD students
SUNY
Virtual
2025
- Personal tutoring of a PhD student in statistics for palaeoecology.
Post-doctoral research associate
University or Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
2024 - 2022
- NSF grant, developing state-space modelling methods to analyse palaeoeological records.
- Abrupt change in ecosystems project lead by Jack Williams and Anthony Ives.
Research Assistant
University of Auckland
Auckland, NZ
2022 - 2021
- Conducting a bibliometric analysis on the topic of climate justice.
Engagement Specialist
Centre for e-Research
Auckland, NZ
2022 - 2021
- Engaging with researchers providing extensive research support by setting up virtual machines, data storage, and analytical workflows for graduate students and research staff.
- Includes technical skills for virtual machines (Linux, Bash, Slurm), high performance computing, and version control.
Data Analyst
Auckland Council
Auckland, NZ
2021
- Role: analyse citizen science bird count data and write a technical report.
Graduate Teaching Assistant and Assistant Coordinator
University of Auckland
Auckland, NZ
2019
- GTA and assistant coordinator for Discovering Environmental Modelling.
- Guest lecturer on population growth.
- Developed application as a teaching aid: shiny app for lecture and [lecture slides].
Graduate Teaching Assistant
University of Auckland
Auckland, NZ
2019 - 2018
- GTA: Natural and Human Environmental Systems; Discovering Environmental Modelling; and, Environmental Science and Management.
Research Assistant
Stockholm Environment Institute
York, UK
2017 - 2016
- Assisting in the reconstruction of fire regimes in the North York Moors.
- Core preparation and microscope analysis for charcoal and SCPs
- Statistical analysis and compilation of data.
Articles and Publications
Statistical analyses of community and paleoecological time series to identify environmental drivers and biotic interactions.
In-review
N/A
2024
- Asena, Q., Williams, J., Stefanova, V., Johnson, J., Shuman, B., Ives, A.
Information loss in palaeoecological data from process and observer error
In-review
N/A
2024
- Asena, Q., Perry, G.L., Wilmshurst, J.
Is the past recoverable from the data? Pseudoproxy modelling of uncertainties in palaeoecological data
Holocene
N/A
2024
- Asena, Q., Perry, G.L., Wilmshurst, J.
A Bibliometric Review and Topic Analysis of Climate Justice Literature: Mapping Trends, Voices, and the Way Forward
Climate Risk Management
N/A
2024
- Parsons, M., Asena, Q., Johnson, D., Nalau, J.
- Code repository publicly available.
Guidelines for Reporting and Archiving 210Pb Sediment Chronologies to Improve Fidelity and Extend Data Lifecycle
Quaternary Geochronology
N/A
2019
- Courtney-Mustaphi, C.J., Brahney, J., Aquino-Lopez, M.A., Goring, S., Orton, K., Noronha, A. Czaplewski, J., Asena, Q., Paton, S.
Response to comment on Peatland carbon stocks and burn history: Blanket bog peat core evidence highlights charcoal impacts on peat physical properties and long-term carbon storage by Evans et al.
GEO: Geography and Environment
N/A
2019
- Heinemeyer, A., Burn, W.L., Asena, Q., Jones, A., Ashby, M.
Peatland carbon stocks and burn history: Blanket bog peat core evidence highlights charcoal impacts on peat physical properties and long-term carbon storage
GEO: Geography and Environment
N/A
2018
- Heinemeyer, A., Asena, Q., Burn, W.L., Jones, A.
- Role: core preparation and microscopy - charcoal and spheroidal spheroidal carbonaceous particles
Population viability analyses in New Zealand: a review
New Zealand Journal of Ecology
N/A
2018
- Simpkins, C.E., Lee, F., Powers, B.F., Anderson, S., Asena, Q., Brock, J.M.R., Perry, G.L.
Assessing the links between resilience, disturbance and functional traits in paleoecological datasets
Past Global Changes Magazine, vol. 26(2), 87
N/A
2018
- Hamilton, R., Brussel, T., Asena, Q., Bruel, R., Marcisz, K., Slowinski, M., Morris, J.
Packages, apps and resources
George Perry Lab
Interested in the lab group? Visit George Perry’s lab group: Spatial Ecology Group
Williams Lab
Check out the Williams lab
Ives Lab
See what the Ives Lab group do
multinomialTS
R package
N/A
2024
- R package for state-space modelling of multinomially distributed data
- Hosted on GitHub
State-Space Methods for Testing Hypotheses About Environmental Drivers and Biotic Interactions in Community and Paleoecological Time Series
Workshop
N/A
2024
fisheR
R package
N/A
2019
- R package for calculating Fisher’s Information on time-series data
- Code available on GitHub
Population growth app
Shiny app
N/A
2019
- Population growth app exploring different population growth equations for educational purposes
Population growth lecture aid app
Shiny app
N/A
2019
- App to accompany population growth lecture and help students through population growth calculations
Selected Workshops and Conferences
Hobbies and Interests
Keen musician improving my piano skills
Rock climber, if I’m not working I’m probably up a mountain. I teach rock climbing safety at university clubs.
ESA 2024
Ecological Society of America
Long Beach, CA
2024
- Speaker: Hypothesis testing of the drivers of long-term ecological change in Michigan
- Workshop host: State-Space Methods for Testing Hypotheses About Environmental Drivers and Biotic Interactions in Community and Paleoecological Time Series
ResBaz
Research Bazaar
Auckland, NZ; Madison, WI
2024 - 2021
- Organiser: ResBaz Aotearoa 2021
- Workshop lead on Quarto for Colaboration virtual session for ResBaz NZ 2022-2024
- Workshop lead on Quarto for Colaboration in-person Madison, WI, 2023
ESA 2023
Ecological Society of America
Portland, OR
2023
INQUA 2023
International Union For Quaternary Research
Rome, IT
2023
BES: Palaeo in R
British Ecological Society
Virtual
2022
- Speaker on virtual ecological methods to assessing uncertainty in palaeoecological data using pseudoproxies
AGU
American Geophysical Union
Chicago, IL
2022
- Speaker on virtual ecological methods for assessing uncertainty in palaeoecological data using pseudoproxies
AMQUA
American Quaternary Association
Madison, WI
2022
- Poster session on virtual ecological methods to assessing uncertainty in palaeoecological data using pseudoproxies
INQUA 2019
International Union For Quaternary Research
Dublin, Ireland
2019
- Speaker on pseudoproxy modelling for assessing statistical inferences
Durham
Durham University
Durham, UK
2019
- Invited speaker on modelling resilience in ecosystems
Biological Heritage Science Challenge
University of Canterbury
Christchurch, NZ
2019
- Speaker on resilience in ecosystems
International Swiss Climate Summer School Earth systems variability through time: processes, observations and models
University of Bern
Bern, Switzerland
2018
- Poster presentation and participant
- Accredited course worth 3 ECTS credits
Te Punaha Matatini Biomaths
University of Auckland
Auckland, NZ
2018
- Speaker
EcoRe3: Resistance, Recovery and Resilience in Long-term Ecological Systems
PAGES - University of Utah
Utah, USA
2018
- Speaker on modelling resilience in ecosystems
Paleodata Demo Derby Workshop
University of Wisconsin
Wisconsin, USA
2018
- Participant
Biological Heritage Science Challenge
University of Canterbury
Christchurch, NZ
2017
- Speaker
Committees
Neotoma Leadership Council
Neotoma
Virtual
Present - 2024
- Early career representative on the Neotoma leadership council.
Paper reviews
Environmental Research and Technology
Bibliometric Analysis of International Studies Combining Climate Change
N/A
2025
- Reviewed paper
Quaternary Geology
Quaternary Geochronology Comparing Classical and Bayesian 210Pb dating models in over a thousand scenarios
N/A
2024
- Reviewed paper
Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Making virtual species less virtual by reverse engineering of spatiotemporal ecological models
N/A
2022
- Reviewed paper