About me
I am a quantitative ecologist working in the fields of conservation, ecology and bio-logging, mobilising concepts from
statistical ecology, big data, Artificial Intelligence and computer science. I am interested in ecological issues related to
animal movement processes, energetics, population dynamics and life history strategies, climate change, human-wildlife interactions.
I develop and implement quantitative approaches necessary for the analysis of high-frequency, multivariate ecological data and
to implement species monitoring and conservation programs.
statistical ecology, big data, Artificial Intelligence and computer science. I am interested in ecological issues related to
animal movement processes, energetics, population dynamics and life history strategies, climate change, human-wildlife interactions.
I develop and implement quantitative approaches necessary for the analysis of high-frequency, multivariate ecological data and
to implement species monitoring and conservation programs.
Academic Experience
12/2023-Ongoing - Post-doctoral Researcher - Laboratoire L3i, Pôle Sciences et Technologie, Université de La Rochelle, & Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS
2023 - Independent work:
2021-2022 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship – Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Chizé, France
2018-2020 - Post-doctoral Researcher in Movement Ecology - Aarhus University, Denmark
Education
2013-2017 - PhD in Ecology – University of Aberdeen, UK
Thesis: "Foraging strategies of diving seabirds across scales: the use of high frequency tracking data to reveal movement decisions in dynamic environments."
2011-2012 - MRes (Distinction) – Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology, University of Aberdeen, UK
Thesis: "Modelling the foraging behaviour of diving predators in complex and heterogeneous landscapes: the impact of renewable tidal devices on diving seabirds”
2007-2010 - MSc (Distinction) – Biology of Aquatic Systems, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy
Thesis: "Diving behaviour of juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in captivity and in a natural bay"
2003-2007 - BSc – Environmental Biology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Italy.
12/2023-Ongoing - Post-doctoral Researcher - Laboratoire L3i, Pôle Sciences et Technologie, Université de La Rochelle, & Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS
2023 - Independent work:
- Kept affiliation at Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS and student supervision duty while waiting for new funding (see above)
- Mentoring young students and scientists in STEM
- Lecture for MSCA grant writing at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Evenstad, Norway.
2021-2022 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship – Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Chizé, France
2018-2020 - Post-doctoral Researcher in Movement Ecology - Aarhus University, Denmark
Education
2013-2017 - PhD in Ecology – University of Aberdeen, UK
Thesis: "Foraging strategies of diving seabirds across scales: the use of high frequency tracking data to reveal movement decisions in dynamic environments."
2011-2012 - MRes (Distinction) – Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology, University of Aberdeen, UK
Thesis: "Modelling the foraging behaviour of diving predators in complex and heterogeneous landscapes: the impact of renewable tidal devices on diving seabirds”
2007-2010 - MSc (Distinction) – Biology of Aquatic Systems, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy
Thesis: "Diving behaviour of juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in captivity and in a natural bay"
2003-2007 - BSc – Environmental Biology, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Italy.
Peer – reviewed publications
2024
2024
- Vacquie-Garcia J., Spitz J., Hammill M., Stenson G.B., Kovacs K.M., Lydersen C., Chimienti M., Renaud M., Fernandez P.M., Jeanniard du Dot T. (2024) Foraging habits of Northwest Atlantic hooded seals over the past 30 years: future habitat suitability under global warming Global Change Biology (in press)
- Machado-Gaye AL., Kato A., Chimienti M., Gobel N, Ropert-Coudert Y., Barbosa A, Soutullo A. Using latent behavior analysis to identify key foraging areas for Adélie penguins in a declining colony in West Antarctic Peninsula Marine Biology (in press)
- Dupuis B., Kato A. Joly N., Saraux C., Ropert-Coudert Y., Chiaradia A. Chimienti M. (2023) COVID-related anthropause highlights the impact of marine traffic but not of tourism on breeding little penguins Biological Conservation 287, 110323
- Hathaway A., Campera M., Hedger K., Chimienti M., Adinda E., Ahmad N., Imron M.A., Nekaris K.A.I (2023) Analysis of Accelerometer Data Using Random Forest Models to Classify the Behavior of a Wild Nocturnal Primate: Javan Slow Loris (Nycticebus javanicus) Ecologies 4 (4), 636-653
- Kirchner T.M., Devineau O., Chimienti M., Thompson D.P, Crouse J., Evans A.L., Zimmermann B., Eriksen A. (2023) Predicting moose behaviors from tri-axial accelerometer data using a supervised classification algorithm Animal Biotelemetry 11 (1), 32
- Beumer L.T, Schmidt N.M., Pohle J., Signer J., Chimienti M., Desforges J.P., Hansen L.H., Pedersen S.H., Rudd D.A., Stelvig M., van Beest F.M. (2023) Accounting for behaviour in fine‐scale habitat selection: A case study highlighting methodological intricacies. Journal of Animal Ecology 00, 1–17
- Soldatini C., Rosas-Hernandez M.P., Albores-Barajas Y.V., Catoni C., Ramoz A., Dell’Omo G., Rattenborg N., Chimienti M. (2023) Individual variability in diving behaviour of the Black-vented Shearwater in an ever-changing habitat. Science of the Total Environment, 880:163286.
- Campera M., Chimienti M., Nekaris K.A.I. (2023) Applications of Accelerometers and Other Bio-Logging Devices in Captive and Wild Animals Animals 13 (2), 222
- Chimienti M., Kato A., Hicks O., Angelier F., Beaulieu M., Bonan O-C J., Marciau C., Raclot T., Tucker M., Wisniewska D.M., Chiaradia A., Ropert-Coudert Y. (2022) The role of individual variability on the predictive performance of machine learning approaches applied to large bio-logging datasets. Scientific Reports 12:19737
- Pasanisi E., Chimienti M., Blasi M., Maffucci F., Hochscheid S., (2022) Ocean highways in the Western Mediterranean: which are the areas with increased exposure to maritime traffic for loggerhead turtles? Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, 924532
- Nekaris, K.A.-I.; Campera, M.; Chimienti, M.; Murray, C.; Balestri, M.; Showell, Z. (2022) Training in the Dark: Using Target Training for Non-Invasive Application and Validation of Accelerometer Devices for an Endangered Primate (Nycticebus bengalensis). Animals, 12, 411.
- Gallagher, C.A., Chimienti, M., Grimm, V. & Nabe-Nielsen, J. (2022) Energy-mediated responses to changing prey size and distribution in marine top predator movements and population dynamics. Journal of Animal Ecology. 91, 241-254
- Chimienti M., van Beest F.M., Beumer L.T., Desforges J.P., Hansen L.H., Stelvig M., Schmidt N.M. (2021) Quantifying behavior and life-history events of an Arctic ungulate from year-long continuous accelerometer data. Ecosphere 12 (6), e03565.
- Desforges, J.P., Marques, G. M., Beumer, L. T., Chimienti, M., Hansen, L. H., Pedersen, S. H., Schmidt, N. M., & Beest, F. M. (2021). Environment and physiology shape Arctic ungulate population dynamics. Global Change Biology, 27, 1721–1737
- Desforges JP., van Beest F.M., Marques G.M., Pedersen S.H., Beumer L.T., Chimienti M., Schmidt N.M., (2021) Quantifying energetic and fitness consequences of seasonal heterothermy in an Arctic ungulate. Ecology and Evolution 11:338–351.
- Desforges JP., van Beest F.M., Marques G.M., Pedersen S.H., Beumer L.T., Chimienti M., Schmidt N.M., Quantifying energetic and fitness consequences of seasonal heterothermy in an Arctic ungulate. Ecology and Evolution (in press)
- van Beest F.M. Beumer L.T., Chimienti M., Desforges JP, Huffeldt N.P., Pedersen S.H., Schmidt N.M. (2020) Environmental conditions alter behavioural organization and rhythmicity of a large Arctic ruminant across the annual cycle Royal Society Open Science 7: 201614
- Chimienti M., Desforges J.P., Beumer L.T., Nabe-Nielsen J., van Beest F.M., Schmidt N.M. (2020) Energetics as common currency for integrating high resolution activity patterns into Dynamic Energy Budget-Individual Based Models. Ecological Modelling 434:109250
- Beumer L.T., Pohle J., Schmidt N.M., Chimienti M., Desforges J.P., Hansen L.H., Langrock R., Pedersen S.H., Stelvig M., van Beest F.M. (2020) An application of upscaled optimal foraging theory using hidden Markov modelling: year-round behavioural variation in a large arctic herbivore. Movement Ecology 8:25
- Chimienti M., Blasi M., Hochscheid S. (2020) Movement patterns of large juvenile loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean Sea: ontogenetic space use in a small ocean basin. Ecology and Evolution 0: 1-15
- Schmidt N.M., Grøndahl C., Evans A., Desforges JP., Blake J., Hansen L., Beumer L.T., Mosbacher J., Stelvig M., Greunz E., Chimienti M., van Beest F.M. (2020) On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate. Scientific Reports 10:1514
- Desforges JP., Marques G.M., Beumer L.T., Chimienti M., Blake J., Rowell J.E., Adamczewski J., Schmidt N.M., van Beest F.M. (2019) Quantification of the full lifecycle bioenergetics of a large mammal in the high Arctic Ecological Modelling 401, 27-39
- Campera M., Balestri M., Chimienti M., Nijman V., Nekaris K.A.I., Donati G. (2019) Temporal niche separation between the ecologically similar lemurs Avahi meridionalis and Lepilemur fleuretae revealed via three-axis accelerometers. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 73, 55.
- Hansson S.V., Grusson Y., Chimienti M., Claustres A., Jean S., Le Roux G. (2019) Legacy Pb pollution in the contemporary environment and its potential bioavailability in three mountain catchments Science of the Total Environment 671, 1227-1236
- Chimienti, M., Cornulier, T., Owen, E., Bolton, M., Davies, I.M., Travis, J.M.J. & Scott, B.E. (2017) Taking movement data to new depths: inferring prey accessibility and patch profitability from seabird foraging behaviour. Ecology and Evolution, 7, 10252-10265.
- Kafas A, McLay A, Chimienti M, Scott B.E., Davies I., Gubbins M. (2017) ScotMap: Participatory Mapping of Inshore Fishing Activity to Inform Marine Spatial Planning in Scotland. Marine Policy, 79, 8-18.
- Chimienti, M., Cornulier, T., Owen, E., Bolton, M., Davies, I.M., Travis, J.M.J. & Scott, B.E. (2016) The use of an unsupervised learning approach for characterizing latent behaviors in accelerometer data. Ecology and Evolution, 6, 727–741.
- Chimienti M, Bartoń KA, Scott BE, Travis JMJ. (2014) Modelling foraging movements of diving predators: a theoretical study exploring the effect of heterogeneous landscapes on foraging efficiency. PeerJ 2:e54