Lauren Talluto

Biography

Lauren Talluto is a senior research scholar in the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group of the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program. Her main topic of research is ecological model development, particularly relating to models for biodiversity. These include phenomenological models, such as species distribution models, as well as more process-oriented models, such as meta-ecosystem models.

Talluto's research at IIASA focuses on biodiversity responses to anthropogenic change. She has developed novel methods for modeling distributions of both individual species and ecological communities in dynamic environments while accounting for non-equilibrium conditions. For the BIOCLIMA3 project, she is currently developing species distribution models that incorporate lagged effects of extreme ecological events (e.g., heatwaves and droughts). She also sits on IIASA's Forum for Gender Equality and Inclusion.

She holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of Wyoming, USA, where she investigated eco-evolutionary dynamics in montane pine forests in western North America. Following her PhD, she did postdoctoral work at the University of Quebec at Rimouski, Canada, and at the Alpine Ecology Laboratory in Grenoble, France, where she worked on modeling the impacts of climate change on biodiversity at macroecological scales. She has also worked on meta-ecosystem models in freshwater systems at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, Germany, and at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

Last update: 19 MAY 2026