Martijn is a global change ecologist who combines models and field studies to understand how wildlife copes with our rapidly changing environment. In his research he takes a quantitative approach to global change ecology, not so much interested in showing that there are effects, but in estimating how strong these effects are, how certain we can be about them, translate what this means for population numbers (as this is most relevant to management) and what the most efficient way is to mitigate impacts. Mathematical modelling and advanced statistical tools are combined with data collection from the field (e.g. GPS-tracking of birds and airplanes), often taking a landscape or even global perspective (e.g. comparative analysis on multi-species datasets).

Before joining JCU in 2021 he worked at various institutes across the globe (Netherlands, Germany, Norway) and as an ARC Future Fellow at the Australian National University. He has over 80 publications, which are widely cited (top 1% when accounting for study field, career stage and author position). He sits on the Editorial Board for Proceedings of the Royal Society: B.

Interested in joining?

I am keen to advise PhD, Masters-by-Research, honours and Postdoc projects on topics that improve our understanding of how organisms cope with environmental change (or any other topic that you can convince me is exciting). I encourage you to develop your own ideas, but below are some example topics that could be particularly suitable and timely.

If you are interested, please reach out (martijn.vandepol@jcu.edu.au) with a summary of your previous research experience, and the type of research project that you wish to undertake (or drop by my office for a chat). PhD/MSc Scholarships schemes are available for both domestic and international students. Postdocs can explore the ARC-DECRA fellowship scheme, or overseas funding opportunities (e.g. EU MSCA global postdoctoral fellowship allow for Europeans to work in Australia).Students considering doing an Honours project can look here. Ideas for project topics:

- Statistical tools for robust climate change biology.

- Population dynamical responses to climate change on a continental scale.

- Demographic models of the evolution of cooperation.

- The impact of sea level rise on shorebirds – a global analysis.

Ongoing funded research projects

• Cumulative Human Impact of Bird Populations (2016-22; funded by applied research council, Air force, NAM gas mining, BirdLife). Two PhD students and a postdoc quantify how sea level rise, soil subsidence, disturbance, fisheries, climate change and agricultural intensification accumulate to affect bird populations and identify the most efficient mitigation and conservation actions.
• Studying “Wild eco-evolutionary dynamics: the decline of an iconic Australian bird”, (ARC Discovery grant 2018-2023, with Loeske Kruuk & Andrew Cockburn, ANU).
• Involvement in various other projects as a partner investigator:
• ‘Individual heterogeneity in animals’ life-histories’, with Stephanie Jenouvrier - Woods Hole Institute USA & Remi Fay - NTNU Norway.
• sTraitChange studies how trait responses to climate change translate into demographic rates and population dynamics, led by Viktoriia Radchuk IZW Berlin.
• ‘When is global change too much? Limits to plastic responses in wild birds’, led by Celine Teplitsky, CNRS France. 
• ECOVAR studies how to manage ecosystems in an increasingly variable world, led by Yngvild Vindenes, Oslo University.

Teaching

• BS5260: Modelling Ecological Dynamics (Level 5; TSV)
• BZ3755: Climate Change and Biodiversity (Level 3; TSV)
• BZ5755: Climate Change and Biodiversity (Level 5; TSV)
• MA3211: Mathematical Modelling and Differential Equations (Level 3; TSV)
• SC2209: Quantitative Methods in Science-Advanced (Level 2; TSV)

Experience

• 2021 to present - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2017 to 2021 - Senior Researcher & Group Leader, Netherlands Institute of Ecology of the Royal Academy of Sciences NIOO-KNAW (Wageningen, the Netherlands)
• 2013 to 2016 - ARC Future Fellow & Senior Lecturer, Australian National University (Canberra, Australia)
• 2010 to 2012 - ARC Australian Postdoctoral Discovery Fellow, Australian National University (Canberra, Australia)
• 2007 to 2009 - NWO Rubicon Fellow, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim, Norway)
• 2007 - Max Planck Society Visiting Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Rostock, Germany)
• 2001 to 2006 - PhD, Groningen University (Groningen, the Netherlands)
• 1994 to 2001 - BSc & MSc, Utrecht University (Utrecht, the Netherlands)

Research Disciplines

• Ecology (3103)
• Climate change impacts and adaptation (4101)
• Statistics (4905)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Expanding knowledge (2801)
• Understanding climate change (1905)
• Coastal and estuarine systems and management (1802)

Awards

• 2019 - Globally ranked in top 1% of citation scores across all fields, when accounting for career stage, research field and author position on papers (data till 2019; see list in https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000918)
• 2017 - Globally ranked in top 1% of citation scores across all fields, when accounting for career stage, research field and author position on papers (data till 2017; see list in https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000384)
• 2006 - PhD cum laude (highest distinction, top 5%)

Fellowships

• 2013 to 2016 - Future fellowship (Australian Research Council )
• 2010 to 2012 - Australian Postdoctoral Discovery fellowship (Australian Research Council)
• 2008 to 2009 - Rubicon fellowship (NWO, Dutch Research Council)
• 2007 - Max Planck Society visiting scholarship

Memberships

• 2018 - Associate Editor for Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences
• 2013 to 2021 - Board Member Centre for Avian Population Studies
• 2012 to 2020 - Associate Editor for Journal of Animal Ecology
• 2017 - Theme issue editor of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Allen A, Jongejans E, van de Pol M, Ens B, Frauendorf M, van der Sluijs M and de Kroon H (2022) The demographic causes of population change vary across four decades in a long-lived shorebird. Ecology, 103 (4).
• Bailey L, van de Pol M, Adriaensen F, Arct A, Barba E, Bellamy P, Bonamour S, Bouvier J, Burgess M, Charmantier A, Cusimano C, Doligez B, Drobniak S, Dubiec A, Eens M, Eeva T, Ferns P, Goodenough A, Hartley I, Hinsley S, Ivankina E, Juškaitis R, Kempenaers B, Kerimov A, Lavigne C, Leivits A, Mainwaring M, Matthysen E, Nilsson J, Orell M, Rytkönen S, Senar J, Sheldon B, Sorace A, Stenning M, Török J, van Oers K, Vatka E, Vriend S and Visser M (2022) Bird populations most exposed to climate change are less sensitive to climatic variation. Nature Communications, 13.
• Fay R, Hamel S, van de Pol M, Gaillard J, Yoccoz N, Acker P, Authier M, Larue B, Le Coeur C, Macdonald K, Nicol-Harper A, Barbraud C, Bonenfant C, Van Vuren D, Cam E, Delord K, Gamelon M, Moiron M, Pelletier F, Rotella J, Teplitsky C, Visser M, Wells C, Wheelwright N, Jenouvrier S and Saether B (in press) Temporal correlations among demographic parameters are ubiquitous but highly variable across species. Ecology Letters,
• Fay R, Authier M, Hamel S, Jenouvrier S, van de Pol M, Cam E, Gaillard J, Yoccoz N, Acker P, Allen A, Aubry L, Bonenfant C, Caswell H, Coste C, Larue B, Le Cœur C, Gamelon M, Macdonald K, Moiron M, Nicol?Harper A, Pelletier F, Rotella J, Teplitsky C, Touzot L, Wells C and Sæther B (2022) Quantifying fixed individual heterogeneity in demographic parameters: performance of correlated random effects for Bernoulli variables. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13 (1). pp. 91-104
• Frauendorf M, Allen A, Jongejans E, Ens B, Teunissen W, Kampichler C, van Turnhout C, Bailey L, de Kroon H, Cremer J, Kleyheeg E, Nienhuis J and van de Pol M (2022) Love thy neighbour?-Spatial variation in density dependence of nest survival in relation to predator community. Diversity and Distributions, 28 (4). pp. 624-635
• McLean N, Kruuk L, Van Der Jeugd H, Leech D, van Turnhout C and van de Pol M (2022) Warming temperatures drive at least half of the magnitude of long-term trait changes in European birds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119 (10).
• Van Der Kolk H, Ens B, Oosterbeek K, Jongejans E and van de Pol M (2022) The hidden cost of disturbance: Eurasian Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) avoid a disturbed roost site during the tourist season. Ibis, 164 (2). pp. 437-450
• van Irsel J, Frauendorf M, Ens B, van de Pol M, Troost K, Oosterbeek K, De Kroon H, Jongejans E and Allen A (in press) State-dependent environmental sensitivity of reproductive success and survival in a shorebird. Ibis,
• Cockburn A, Peñalba J, Jaccoud D, Kilian A, Brouwer L, Double M, Margraf N, Osmond H, Kruuk L and van de Pol M (2021) Hiphop: improved paternity assignment among close relatives using a simple exclusion method for biallelic markers. Molecular Ecology Resources, 21 (6). pp. 1850-1865
• Frauendorf M, Allen A, Verhulst S, Jongejans E, Ens B, van der Kolk H, de Kroon H, Nienhuis J and van de Pol M (2021) Conceptualizing and quantifying body condition using structural equation modelling: a user guide. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90 (11). pp. 2478-2496
• van de Pol M and Brouwer L (2021) Cross‐lags and the unbiased estimation of life‐history and demographic parameters. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90 (10). pp. 2234-2253
• van der Kolk H, Ens B, Oosterbeek K, Bouten W, Allen A, Frauendorf M, Lameris T, Oosterbeek T, Deuzeman S, de Vries K, Jongejans E and van de Pol M (2021) Shorebird feeding specialists differ in how environmental conditions alter their foraging time. Behavioral Ecology, 31 (2). pp. 371-382

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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 37+ research outputs authored by Dr Martijn van de Pol from 2016 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.