Louise OConnor
Research Scholar
Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group
Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program
Biography
Louise O'Connor is a research scholar in the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group of the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program. Her current research focuses on the conservation of European biodiversity and nature's contributions to people while accounting for climate and land use change scenarios.Prior to joining IIASA, she completed her PhD in 2022 at the University of Grenoble Alpes in France where she worked on integrating species interaction networks in spatial conservation prioritization for European terrestrial vertebrates. In 2019, she obtained her MSc from the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France, where she specialized in ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation science.
Last update: 23 MAR 2023
Publications
O'Connor, L., Thuiller, W., Brose, U., Chenevois, É., Freund, C., Gauzens, B., Gaüzere, P., Graham, C., Harfoot, M., Hirt, M.R., Lavergne, S., Maiorano, L., Moilanen, A., Verburg, P.H., Visconti, P. , & Pollock, L.J. (2026). The untapped potential of food webs in systematic conservation planning. Conservation Letters 19 (1) e70002. 10.1111/con4.70002Digital.
Cavalcante, T., Kujala, H., Virtanen, E.A., O'Connor, L., Lehtinen, P., & Moilanen, A. (2025). Evaluating trade-offs between species targets and average coverage in spatial conservation planning. Biological Conservation 310 e111368. 10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111368.
Spencer, D., Marques, A., Veerkamp, C.J., van der Marel, M., Verburg, P., Di Marco, M., Jung, M. , Kujala, H., O'Connor, L., Visconti, P. , & Schipper, A.M. (2025). Opportunity cost estimates for spatial conservation prioritisation across terrestrial Europe. Scientific Data 12 (1) e1583. 10.1038/s41597-025-05837-5.
Dansereau, G., Braga, J., Ficetola, G.F., Galiana, N., Gravel, D., Maiorano, L., Montoya, J.M., O'Connor, L., Pollock, L., Thuiller, W., Poisot, T., & Barros, C. (2025). Overcoming the disconnect between species interaction networks and biodiversity conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 40 (9) 840-851. 10.1016/j.tree.2025.05.010.
Jung, M. , Adams, V.M., Alagador, D., Álvarez‐Romero, J.G., Araujo, M.B., Arponen, A., Beger, M., Beher, J., Carvalho, S.B., Giakoumi, S., Hanson, J.O., Hermoso, V., Jantke, K., Kujala, H., McGowan, J., Metaxas, A., O'Connor, L., Salgado‐Rojas, J., Schuster, R., Smith, B., & Visconti, P. (2025). An interoperable and standardized protocol for reporting systematic conservation planning projects. Conservation Science and Practice 7 (7) e70097. 10.1111/csp2.70097.