TANIA BARYCHKA
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
I’m a professional Researcher from the London area, dedicating my life to exploring and researching the state of world biodiversity and what we can do to stop its decline. I have received several grants throughout my research, with projects and publications that you can learn more about below.
A pdf copy of my CV is here.
MY RESEARCH
THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY
Sept 2019 - Sept 2021
The goal of this ambitious project is to predict the future of the planet's species: animals and plants, as we continue to use up more land and as climate changes. For that I'll be implementing complex socio-economic and climate change scenarios (based on SSP-RCP pathways) into the only model that can deal with such complex questions:
the Madingley general ecosystem model.
As part of an amazing team of scientists at UCL, Imperial College London, UNEP WCMC and Dalhousie University, I will show which species and ecosystems are likely to be the most impacted by climate and land-use in the next 50 years.
HOW 'WILD' IS GREATER LONDON?
April 2019 - June 2019
Relatively little is know about how animal and plant species fare in urban environements. In this projects, I identified and reviewed existing biodiversity monitoring data for London. Together with my colleagues at UCL, we
determined the key trends in London biodiversity based on spatio-temporal data analysis (in R). To communicate our findings, I designed and produced data visualisations using Tableau and R. We reported our findings to the funder in a 50-page report.
SUSTAINABLE BUSHMEAT HARVESTING IN AFRICA
Sept 2014 - Mar 2019
There is very little reliable data on species harvested for bushmeat in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet bushmeat contributes up to 75% of people's protein intake in many rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa. For this project, I developed a new robust method for predicting sustainable levels of bushmeat harvesting given the data scarcity. I applied my method to the most commercially-important species in Central Africa: the duiker anelope (see the study here). Importantly, the risk-based framework I developed allows to quantify management trade-offs (e.g. high yields now vs no yields in 20 years? - see my interactive app).
To complement my data-driven method, I investigated whether the general ecosystem Madingley model could help fill-in some of knowledge gaps: see here for harvesting individual species and here - for bushmeat harvesting trends across Africa. My results suggest that the Madingley model can provide valuable insights, in particular for data-deficient species.
Achievements and Experience
September 2019Â - August 2021
POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW
My aim is to provide useful insights into the future of global biodiversity as we continue to impact climate and modify land. I use predictions from a general ecosystem model, the Madingley, and statistical analysis to represent temporal and spatial trends in biodiversity from present day to year 2070.
April - June 2019
DATA ANALYST/RESEARCH ASSISTANT
In this project I identified and reviewed existing biodiversity monitoring data for London (over 20 different data sources). Analysis of the data allowed me to identify key trends and communicate these trends to stakeholders via  informative data visualisations using Tableau and R.
September 2014 - June 2019
PHD RESEARCHER
I identified sustainable levels of harvesting for duiker antelope species that are an essential source of protein for the poorest communities in Africa.
September 2006 - August 2012
I audited accounts and analysed risks for the largest independent hotel in London.
INCOMEÂ AUDITOR
CONTACT ME
University College London
Division of Biosciences
Medawar Building | WC1E 6BT
