Tharaka

My 3rd PhD chapter in @Ecology_Letters shows crop and landscape heterogeneity positively impact farmland biodiversity on a global scale; doi.org/10.1111/ele.14… 🙏@EleSlade Ben Woodcock @clelia_sirami @TejaTscharntke @GoodaleEben Emily Martin @Carlos_marnu @emiliopnunez @ntu_ase

Our paper on crop and landscape heterogeneity and agrobiodiversity in @Ecology_Letters is now a Top Cited Article (2024). Part of my PhD work and great to see it gaining attention! 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/ele.14…

Delighted to be part of this fantastic group of new Associate Editor mentees – looking forward to contributing and learning together!

Paper alert!! 🦜 What drives bird specialization worldwide? 🌍 Which environmental factors support communities with more specialized species? Find out in our latest paper in Global Ecology and Biogeography @GEB_macro doi.org/10.1111/geb.70…

I’m excited to share our new @Nature paper 📝, which provides strong evidence that the walkability of our built environment matters a great deal to our physical activity and health. Details in thread.🧵 nature.com/articles/s4158…

🌿Excited to share our new study showing that integrating urban agriculture with other green spaces can enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions in cities! 👏 Led by @emiliopnunez, Zeyu & Sihao 📖 Read more: doi.org/10.1002/2688-8… #UrbanEcology @ntu_ase

Pleased to share our last article showing that urban agriculture represents a mid point between conventional non urban farms and urban green spaces in terms of their environmental impacts 🌻🐇🦜🐜🍉 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/26…

How can we reform science? I have some ideas. But I am not sure you’ll like them, because they don’t promise much. elevanth.org/blog/2025/07/0…

Happy #EarthDay! A #Singapore study led by #NTUsg has shown that roadside greenery with a variety of flowering plants that are less frequently cut can boost butterfly numbers and their diversity. The greenery surrounding the verges has a similar positive effect on butterflies too. These findings could help urban planners develop strategies to build more #sustainable cities and support Singapore’s long-term urban greening efforts since the 1960s. ntu.sg/rc-road-verge #NTUsgResearch #Ecology #Nature #Conservation #Sustainability #Biodiversity @sciencentu @ntu_ase

My 4th PhD chapter is out! Flower-rich, less-cut road verges support urban butterflies🦋 authors.elsevier.com/a/1khHFcUG5aKVi teelabntu.wixsite.com/home/post/flow… doi.org/10.1016/j.land… 🙏@EleSlade Ben Woodcock @GoodaleEben @Carlos_marnu @Anujjai01973319 @emiliopnunez @JaniceSHLee @Freaky_G88 @ntu_ase

Wildlife contributes to human well-being and values in visible and invisible ways that are under-recognized or dominated by conflict narratives. We review these critical contributions and what research and policy is needed to protect them:

🚨 A new perspective paper in @naturesustainab highlights the untapped potential of tree crops for #biodiversity conservation, socio-economic #development, and climate change mitigation. 🌳Co-authored by @guypeer3 idiv.de/perspective-tr…

Happy to share the outreach video for our recent Nature Sustainability paper! Read it here: doi.org/10.1038/s41893… Video available in English (1/3), Español (2/3), et Français(3/3). #PerennialCrops #Sustainability #Farming #EnvironmentalResearch #MondayMotivation

Grateful to have been part of this incredible team led by @Carlos_marnu, demonstrating the key role of woody crops in supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 🌍🌳 #TreeCrops #Sustainability #SDGs @ntu_ase

I taught probabilistic programming yesterday, specifically the eternal battle against the demons of floating point arithmetic. I have an old (2023) 15min bonus lecture on the topic, for those who fancy battling monsters. Link to video (starts at 1h mark): youtu.be/mt9WKbQJrI4?li…

Just gave a guest lecture on Bayesian Causal Inference at Williams College, with slides and R code at doi.org/10.7910/DVN/JO… which is an introduction to our review paper royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs… @fabri_mealli @FanLiDuke (I never taught any Bayesian Statistics at Berkeley.)

This is an interesting and useful trick. However, centering factors has some special restrictions on the estimated factorial effects when there are more than 3 factors (3 is the magic number there!). This motivates us to write this paper: academic.oup.com/biomet/article…

Our study led by @Tharaka_SP showing crop & landscape heterogeneity benefits #biodiveristy is featured in the @straits_times. Super nice article exploring the issue of increasing #biodiversity in #agricultural landscapes #TEELab @ntu_ase @NTUsg @ScienceNTU teelabntu.wixsite.com/home/post/exci…

PhD @Tharaka_SP does the math on why #dragonflies are such fascinating creatures! The work done by Tharaka and advisor Prof @EleSlade at the Tropical #ecology and #entomology lab is crucial to maintaining a healthy balance between humans and #nature #invertebrates #research

Watch @Tharaka_SP explain why #dragonflies are such important predators and #biocontrol agents in #urban #ecosystems & could help us control #mosquito populations & the #diseases they transmit. Read more here; besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/13… #TEELab #Entomology #insectappreciation

Happy #WorldEnvironmentDay! A global study led by #NTUsg has shown that when there is variety in the #agricultural landscape, more diverse wildlife thrives on the #farm. This could be a more appealing and practical approach for farmers to contribute to #conservation than existing methods. Improving farmland biodiversity benefits not just the #environment but potentially farmers too, as past research showed that this could improve #crop yields. ntu.sg/rc-farm-land   #NTUsgResearch #Ecology #NTUCOS @ntu_ase @jlugiessen