🎓️
EDUCATION
PhD, Environmental Sciences (2021-2024)
- Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution Group, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL & ETH Zurich
- Thesis: Unveiling spatial patterns of multi-trophic biodiversity using the metaweb approach
- Supervisors: Prof. Drs. Loïc Pellissier and Florian Altermatt
MSc, Environmental Sciences (2016-2019)
- Soil Ecology and Global Change Group, University of Zurich
- Thesis: Searching high and low: the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship across local and landscape scales
- Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Pascal Niklaus, Dr. Sarah Mayor
- Minor: Astronomy and Astrobiology
BSc, Environmental Sciences (2011-2015)
- Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
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ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
02.2025-present
Postdoctoral Researcher
Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Institute WSL
Supervisor: Dr. Marco Moretti
Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Institute WSL
Supervisor: Dr. Marco Moretti
01.2025
Postdoctoral Researcher
Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute WSL
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute WSL
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
05.2025
Visiting Researcher
Behavioural Ecology and Ecological Networks, National Taiwan University
Host: Prof. Dr. Hsi-Cheng Ho
Behavioural Ecology and Ecological Networks, National Taiwan University
Host: Prof. Dr. Hsi-Cheng Ho
01.2021-12.2024
Doctoral Researcher
Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute WSL and ETH Zurich
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute WSL and ETH Zurich
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
02.2020-12.2020
Graduate Intern
Spatial Ecology and Remote Sensing, University of Zurich
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gabriela-Schaepman-Strub
Spatial Ecology and Remote Sensing, University of Zurich
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gabriela-Schaepman-Strub
07.2016-09.2017
Undergraduate Intern
Sánchez Lab, University of Zurich
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Marcelo Sánchez
Sánchez Lab, University of Zurich
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Marcelo Sánchez
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PUBLICATIONS
Landscape diversity promotes landscape functioning in North America
Sarah Mayor, Florian Altermatt, Thomas W. Crowther, Iris Hordijk, Simon Landauer, Jacqueline Oehri, Merin Reji Chacko, Michael E. Schaepman, Bernhard Schmid, Pascal A. Niklaus
Communications Earth and Environment, vol. 6(28), 2025
Kilian Perrelet, Lauren Cook, Merin Reji Chacko, Florian Altermatt, Marco Moretti
Authorea, 2025
Unveiling spatial patterns of multi-trophic biodiversity using the metaweb approach
Merin Reji Chacko
ETH Zurich, 2024
A species-level multi-trophic metaweb for Switzerland
Merin Reji Chacko, Camille Albouy, Florian Altermatt, Joan Casanelles Abella, Martin Brändle, Victor Boussange, Fadri Campell, Willem N. Ellis, Fabian Fopp, Martin Gossner, Hsi-Cheng Ho, Alain Joss, Pascal Kipf, Felix Neff, Andjeljko Petrović, Vincent Prié, Željko Tomanović, Nik Zimmerli, Loïc Pellissier
EcoEvoRxiv, 2024
Merin Reji Chacko, Camille Albouy, Florian Altermatt, Martin Brändle, Nina Farwig, Martin M Gossner, Hsi Cheng Ho, Alain Joss, Felix Neff, Loïc Pellissier
Research Square, 2024
Merin Reji Chacko, Florian Altermatt, Fabian Fopp, Antoine Guisan, Thomas Keggin, Arnaud Lyet, Pierre-Louis Rey, Eilísh Richards, Alice Valentini, Conor Waldock, Loic Pellissier
Oecologia, 2023
Merin Reji Chacko, Jacqueline Oehri, Elena Plekhanova, Gabriela Schaepman‐Strub
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 2023
R. J. Heim, M. Iturrate-García, M. Reji Chacko, S. Karsanaev, T. C. Maximov, M. M. P. D. Heijmans, G. Schaepman‐Strub
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2023
Blue and green food webs respond differently to elevation and land use
Hsi‐Cheng Ho, Jakob Brodersen, Martin M Gossner, Catherine Graham, Silvana Kaeser, Merin Reji Chacko, Ole Seehausen, Niklaus Zimmermann, Loic Pellissier, Florian Altermatt
Nature Communications, 2022
Vegetation type is an important predictor of the arctic summer land surface energy budget
Jacqueline Oehri, G. Schaepman‐Strub, Jin‐Soo Kim, Raleigh Grysko, H. Kropp, I. Grünberg, Vitalii Zemlianskii, O. Sonnentag, E. Euskirchen, Merin Reji Chacko, G. Muscari, P. Blanken, J. Dean, A. D. Di Sarra, R. Harding, I. Sobota, L. Kutzbach, E. Plekhanova, A. Riihelä, J. Boike, N. B. Miller, J. Beringer, E. López-Blanco, P. Stoy, R. Sullivan, M. Kejna, F. Parmentier, J. Gamon, M. Mastepanov, C. Wille, M. Jackowicz-Korczynski, D. Karger, W. Quinton, J. Putkonen, D. van As, T. Christensen, M. Hakuba, R. Stone, S. Metzger, B. Vandecrux, G. Frost, M. Wild, B. Hansen, D. Meloni, F. Dominé, M. te Beest, T. Sachs, A. Kalhori, A. Rocha, S. Williamson, S. Morris, A. Atchley, R. Essery, B. Runkle, D. Holl, L. Riihimaki, H. Iwata, E. Schuur, C. Cox, A. Grachev, J. McFadden, R. Fausto, M. Göckede, M. Ueyama, N. Pirk, G. de Boer, M. Bret-Harte, M. Leppäranta, K. Steffen, T. Friborg, A. Ohmura, C. Edgar, J. Olofsson, S. Chambers
Nature Communications, 2022
Mirjan Krstovic, Laura Brown, Merin Reji Chacko, Brenda Trinh
2008
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INVITED TALKS
Saint Mary’s College (11.2024)
Department of Biology and Environmental Studies' Women in Science Guest Lecture.
Title: Unveiling spatial patterns of food webs using a metaweb approach.
Host: Prof. Dr. Joel Raston.
Title: Unveiling spatial patterns of food webs using a metaweb approach.
Host: Prof. Dr. Joel Raston.
National Taiwan University (07.2024)
Department of Entomology.
Title: Comparing species interaction networks in space using the metaweb framework. Host: Prof. Dr. Po-An Lin
Title: Comparing species interaction networks in space using the metaweb framework. Host: Prof. Dr. Po-An Lin
National Taiwan University (05.2024)
Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: A metaweb framework for investigating the structure and stability of large-scale food webs
Host: Prof. Dr. Hsi-Cheng Ho.
Title: A metaweb framework for investigating the structure and stability of large-scale food webs
Host: Prof. Dr. Hsi-Cheng Ho.
👩💻
CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS
Reji Chacko, M, Casanelles-Abella, J, Fournier, B., Frey, Perrelet, K, and Moretti, M. (2025, June). How urban densification shapes the architecture of biodiversity in novel anthropogenic communities. WSL Advisory Board Meeting Poster Session.
Agarwal, S., Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Ho, H-C., Reji Chacko, M., & Pellissier, L. (2024, January). Unravelling Ecological Complexity: Dynamics and Resilience of Plant-Insect
Networks in the Face of Species Loss. Biology 24, Zurich, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M, Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Boussange, V., Gossner, M., Ho, H-C., Joss, F., & Pellissier, L. (2024, January). From pond to pasture: the robustness of a national trophic metaweb to habitat loss. Biology 24, Zurich, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M., Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Fopp, F., Pellissier, L. (2022, June)
Contemplating the Structure and Function of a Trophic Metaweb for Swiss Fauna. World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, Switzerland (Talk).
Oehri, J., Schaepman-Strub, G., Kim, J.-S., Grysko, R., Kropp, H., Grünberg, I., Zemlianskii, V., Sonnentag, O., Euskirchen, E. S., and Reji Chacko, M. and the ArcticSEB - Synthesis Team: Vegetation Type is an Important Predictor of the Arctic Terrestrial Summer Surface Energy Budget, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7636, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7636, 2022 (Talk).
Reji Chacko, M, Goerens, A., Plekhanova, E., Oehri, J., and Schaepman-Strub, G. (2021, March). Will Current Protected Areas Harbour Refugia for Threatened Arctic Vegetation Types until 2050? Arctic Science Summit Week, Online, Portugal (Poster).
Niklaus, P.A., Altermatt, F., Mayor, S., Oehri, J., Reji Chacko, M., Schaepman, M.,
Schaepman-Strub, G., and Schmid, B (2020, February). Biodiversity Effects at Novel Scales of Organization. World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, Switzerland (Talk).
Reji Chacko, M, Goerens, A., and Schaepman-Strub, G. (2020, February). Threatened Arctic Vegetation Types: Conservation in the Face of Climate Change. World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M, Altermatt, F., Crowther, T., Hordjik, I., Mayor, S., Schaepman, M., Schmid, B., and Niklaus, P.A. (2019, November). Searching High and Low: the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship across local and landscape scales. Geoscience Meeting, Fribourg, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M and Carrillo-Briceño, J.D. (2016, November). A Bony Fish Assemblage (Teleostei) From the Early Miocene of the Southern Caribbean (Cocinetas Basin, Guajira Peninsula). Swiss Geoscience Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland (Poster).
Agarwal, S., Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Ho, H-C., Reji Chacko, M., & Pellissier, L. (2024, January). Unravelling Ecological Complexity: Dynamics and Resilience of Plant-Insect
Networks in the Face of Species Loss. Biology 24, Zurich, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M, Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Boussange, V., Gossner, M., Ho, H-C., Joss, F., & Pellissier, L. (2024, January). From pond to pasture: the robustness of a national trophic metaweb to habitat loss. Biology 24, Zurich, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M., Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Fopp, F., Pellissier, L. (2022, June)
Contemplating the Structure and Function of a Trophic Metaweb for Swiss Fauna. World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, Switzerland (Talk).
Oehri, J., Schaepman-Strub, G., Kim, J.-S., Grysko, R., Kropp, H., Grünberg, I., Zemlianskii, V., Sonnentag, O., Euskirchen, E. S., and Reji Chacko, M. and the ArcticSEB - Synthesis Team: Vegetation Type is an Important Predictor of the Arctic Terrestrial Summer Surface Energy Budget, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7636, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7636, 2022 (Talk).
Reji Chacko, M, Goerens, A., Plekhanova, E., Oehri, J., and Schaepman-Strub, G. (2021, March). Will Current Protected Areas Harbour Refugia for Threatened Arctic Vegetation Types until 2050? Arctic Science Summit Week, Online, Portugal (Poster).
Niklaus, P.A., Altermatt, F., Mayor, S., Oehri, J., Reji Chacko, M., Schaepman, M.,
Schaepman-Strub, G., and Schmid, B (2020, February). Biodiversity Effects at Novel Scales of Organization. World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, Switzerland (Talk).
Reji Chacko, M, Goerens, A., and Schaepman-Strub, G. (2020, February). Threatened Arctic Vegetation Types: Conservation in the Face of Climate Change. World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M, Altermatt, F., Crowther, T., Hordjik, I., Mayor, S., Schaepman, M., Schmid, B., and Niklaus, P.A. (2019, November). Searching High and Low: the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship across local and landscape scales. Geoscience Meeting, Fribourg, Switzerland (Poster).
Reji Chacko, M and Carrillo-Briceño, J.D. (2016, November). A Bony Fish Assemblage (Teleostei) From the Early Miocene of the Southern Caribbean (Cocinetas Basin, Guajira Peninsula). Swiss Geoscience Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland (Poster).
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UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS
Perrelet, K, Cook, L.M., Reji Chacko, M, Altermatt, F. and Moretti, M. Food-webs on green roofs are unique but less stable than their ground-level counterparts. In preparation.
Reji Chacko, M., Frey, D., Albrecht, M., Ghazoul, J., and Moretti, M. No one-size-fits-
all: trait-dependent effects of local plant diversity on pollinators and pollination services
along an urban densification gradient. In preparation.
Reji Chacko, M., Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Fopp, F., Gossner, M.M., Ho, H-C., and
Pellissier, L. Elevation and land use gradients drive food web structure and trophic
connectivity. In preparation. https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000628135
Fopp, F., Albouy, C., Dahito, M-A., Reji Chacko, M., and Pellissier, L. Swisscatchment:
mapping biodiversity at the Swiss scale and catchment resolution. In preparation
Reji Chacko, M., Frey, D., Albrecht, M., Ghazoul, J., and Moretti, M. No one-size-fits-
all: trait-dependent effects of local plant diversity on pollinators and pollination services
along an urban densification gradient. In preparation.
Reji Chacko, M., Albouy, C., Altermatt, F., Fopp, F., Gossner, M.M., Ho, H-C., and
Pellissier, L. Elevation and land use gradients drive food web structure and trophic
connectivity. In preparation. https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000628135
Fopp, F., Albouy, C., Dahito, M-A., Reji Chacko, M., and Pellissier, L. Swisscatchment:
mapping biodiversity at the Swiss scale and catchment resolution. In preparation
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AWARDS
Frontiers Planet Prize (2024). Co-author of the winning National Champion for Switzerland, with the research article “Vegetation type is an important predictor of the arctic summer land surface energy budget” for the Frontiers Planet Prize 2nd Edition
🪙
GRANTS
Forschungskredit CanDoc Grant, University of Zurich, received 15th June 2020.
“Diversity-ecosystem functioning relationships at large spatio-temporal scales: patterns
and mechanisms”. FK 20-086. (CHF 26,500, approx. 29,083 USD)
WSL Biodiversity Center Internal Grant, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and
Landscape Research, received 06th March 2024. “PhD Club Career Day 2024. (CHF
1,700, approx. 1,865 USD)
“Diversity-ecosystem functioning relationships at large spatio-temporal scales: patterns
and mechanisms”. FK 20-086. (CHF 26,500, approx. 29,083 USD)
WSL Biodiversity Center Internal Grant, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and
Landscape Research, received 06th March 2024. “PhD Club Career Day 2024. (CHF
1,700, approx. 1,865 USD)
🍎
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2024
Ecological Networks, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Function: preparation and presentation of a lecture on spatiotemporal aspects of food webs.
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Hsi-Cheng Ho
Function: preparation and presentation of a lecture on spatiotemporal aspects of food webs.
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Hsi-Cheng Ho
401-4620-00L Statistics Lab, ETH Zurich
Function: preparation of course datasets for the group project and mentorship of the three student project groups
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Markus Kalisch
Function: preparation of course datasets for the group project and mentorship of the three student project groups
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Markus Kalisch
701-0560-00L Praktikum Wald und Landschaft (Practical for
Forest and Landscape), ETH Zurich
Function: teaching assistant, preparation of R scripts for exercises
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
Forest and Landscape), ETH Zurich
Function: teaching assistant, preparation of R scripts for exercises
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
2023-2024
Master Thesis Supervision: Shreyas Agarwal, ETH Zurich
Function: main supervisor
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
Function: main supervisor
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
2023
701-3001-00L Environmental Systems Data Science, ETH Zurich
Function: teaching assistant
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
701-0553-00L Landscape Ecology, ETH Zurich
Function: preparation of scripts for video-based learning materials
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
701-1613-01L Landscape Patterns and Processes, ETH Zurich
Function: preparation of R scripts for exercise sessions
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
Function: teaching assistant
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
701-0553-00L Landscape Ecology, ETH Zurich
Function: preparation of scripts for video-based learning materials
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
701-1613-01L Landscape Patterns and Processes, ETH Zurich
Function: preparation of R scripts for exercise sessions
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier
2021
701-1679-00L Landscape Modelling of Biodiversity: From Global
Changes to Conservation, ETH Zurich
Function: teaching assistant
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier & Prof. Dr. Nick Zimmermann
Changes to Conservation, ETH Zurich
Function: teaching assistant
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Loïc Pellissier & Prof. Dr. Nick Zimmermann
2020
UWW252 Spatial Ecology and Remote Sensing, University of
Zurich
Function: lead teaching assistant
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Gabriela Schaepman-Strub
Zurich
Function: lead teaching assistant
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Gabriela Schaepman-Strub
🤔
REVIEW
2025
2022
Environmental DNA, Functional Ecology
Ecology and Evolution
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OTHER ACADEMIC SERVICES
Seminar: WSL Career Day 2024 (2024)
Planned and hosted a pilot half-day seminar with visiting external experts for a discussion on career planning for PhDs and Postdocs at WSL and moderated the panel session.
Location: WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Planned and hosted a pilot half-day seminar with visiting external experts for a discussion on career planning for PhDs and Postdocs at WSL and moderated the panel session.
Location: WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Mentorship (2024)
Participation as a mentor in the Women of Colour & Non-Binary People of Colour in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 1-on-1 mentorship program (https://wocineeb.org/index.html)
Participation as a mentor in the Women of Colour & Non-Binary People of Colour in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 1-on-1 mentorship program (https://wocineeb.org/index.html)
Member of the WSL PhD Club (2022-2024)
Responsibilities included yearly budgeting of PhD Club funds, the organisation of workshops, courses, and social events for PhD students in close collaboration with WSL Workplace Diversity, and the welcoming and orientation of new PhD students to the WSL
Location: WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Responsibilities included yearly budgeting of PhD Club funds, the organisation of workshops, courses, and social events for PhD students in close collaboration with WSL Workplace Diversity, and the welcoming and orientation of new PhD students to the WSL
Location: WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Workshop: strengthen resilience – increase effectiveness (2022-2024)
Organisation of internal annual workshop for PhD students and post-doctoral researchers at WSL, in collaboration with WSL Workplace Diversity, and the BWI Coaching and Further Education Institute
Location: WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Organisation of internal annual workshop for PhD students and post-doctoral researchers at WSL, in collaboration with WSL Workplace Diversity, and the BWI Coaching and Further Education Institute
Location: WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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NON-ACADEMIC WORKS
Reji Chacko, M. (2023). “Kanthari”. A short story, in Translating Stories Into Art.
ExpoTransKultur. (Found in Translation: the 2nd Edition) https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vEqiJzhQUw50egVq6TaBy?si=a8a1bc39d48f4887
ExpoTransKultur. (Found in Translation: the 2nd Edition) https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vEqiJzhQUw50egVq6TaBy?si=a8a1bc39d48f4887