Dr. Shinichi Nakagawa is a distinguished leader in evolutionary ecology and quantitative research synthesis methods who recently transitioned from a prominent position at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney to become the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution at the University of Alberta in 2024. At UNSW, he served as a Professor in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences from 2015 to 2024, following his tenure as a lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand from 2008 to 2015. Dr. Nakagawa received his BSc(Hons) from the University of Waikato in New Zealand and completed his PhD at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, establishing the strong quantitative foundation that would characterize his interdisciplinary research career. His strategic career progression from New Zealand to Australia and now Canada reflects his growing international recognition as a methodological innovator in ecological sciences.
During his tenure at UNSW Sydney, Dr. Nakagawa revolutionized research practices in ecology and evolution through his pioneering work in meta-analysis methodology and open science infrastructure, with his scholarly contributions garnering over 64,000 citations according to Google Scholar. He established EcoEvoRxiv, the premier preprint server for ecology and evolutionary biology, which transformed how researchers share and access cutting-edge findings in these fields. His innovative statistical approaches for location-scale meta-analysis and meta-regression have provided crucial tools for understanding biological variation across large spatial and temporal scales, addressing heterogeneity that traditional methods overlooked. The MeRIT (Method Reporting with Initials for Transparency) framework he developed has significantly enhanced author contribution accountability in scientific publications, promoting greater transparency in research practices across the life sciences.
As a dedicated mentor and educator at UNSW, Dr. Nakagawa shaped the next generation of scientists through teaching courses in biostatistics, data science, and research synthesis while supervising numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. He co-founded the Society for Open, Reliable, Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology (SORTEE), demonstrating his commitment to advancing research integrity and reproducibility in ecological sciences. His leadership extended to influential roles in major research initiatives, including ARC Discovery grants, and his recent recognition as a Canada Excellence Research Chair underscores the international impact of his work at UNSW. Dr. Nakagawa's methodological innovations during his time at UNSW Sydney continue to influence ecological research practices worldwide, setting new standards for transparency and rigor in evolutionary biology.
