Tim is interested in large-scale patterns in the distribution of species, and his research is currently largely focused on understanding the processes driving human-mediated biological invasions, using birds as a model taxon. The first decade of this work was summarised in a monograph published by OUP (Avian Invasions: The ecology and evolution of exotic birds), but he continues to research and publish studies on invasions, as well as macroecology, extinction and life history. He has been based at UCL since 2014 where he is Professor of Invasion Biology, but he is also officially affiliated with the Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London.

For more than three decades, Steve has been actively involved in different scientific projects on Madagascar and neighboring islands in the western Indian Ocean, including aspects on the ecology, biogeography and systematics of birds and mammals. These different studies focus on questions in evolutionary biology and applying different analyses to the regional advancement of conservation. He has been active in publishing scientific papers, books, and monographs on these topics. Another important focus of his work and as a Professor Honoris Causa at The University of Antananarivo is the advancement of national and regional graduate students working in the domains of ecology and biogeography. He is MacArthur Field Biologist at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and Scientific Counselor of Association Vahatra in Antananarivo, the city where he makes his home.

Lori is a Senior Lecturer on the James Cook University Cairns campus. She is a community ecologist broadly interested in the effects of human-induced changes to the environment on the functioning of ecosystems. She is particularly interested in the effects of biological invaders and the dynamics and effects of social insect invasions. She conducted post-doctoral research in Mauritius and Western Australia (two very different kinds of island systems) before commencing at JCU in 2013. Much of her current research program is focused on using science to advance management outcomes, particularly for small and easily overlooked creatures.

Vojtech has a PhD in Ecology from the Czech Academy of Sciences. In Czech Republic, he's directing the Centre for Tropical Biology, a research consortium of three institutions (Czech Academy of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, and Charles University), active throughout the tropics. In Papua New Guinea, he co-founded and has been directing the New Guinea Binatang Research Center, a research organization active also in rainforest conservation and training of postgraduate students.
Vojtech is a tropical biologist interested in the ecology of rainforests, particularly their food webs. His research, increasingly using field-based experiments, focuses on ecological mechanisms of species coexistence of rainforest plants and animals and on ecological drivers of biodiversity along succession, latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in forest ecosystems. He is also interested in the development of ecological research capacity, from paraecologists to postgraduate students, in tropical countries and in the conservation of tropical forests, particularly with indigenous communities. For the past 20 years, he has been dividing his time equally between Europe and Papua New Guinea, spending it on scientific, conservation and science policy issues, facilitating interaction and understanding between extra-tropical and equatorial scientists.

Susanne is a botanist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Mu nich (Ludwig-Maximilians U.) and also the director of the Munich herbaria (3.2 million specimens) and the Munich Botanical Garden. Her research focuses on the evolution of plant sexual systems, plant/animal interactions, biogeography, and alternative approaches to systematics and ident ification (from automated image analysis to molecular diagnoses).

Dominique Strasberg is Professor of Ecology at the University of Reunion Island. His research interests include small oceanic island tropical rainforest ecology and the role of perturbations and biological invasions in island plant community dynamics. He has led major research programs on the South-West Indian Ocean Biodiversity Hotspot. He is currently chairing the Scientific Council of the Reunion National Park, dealing with conservation issues and the Reunion World Heritage Site IAS management plan.