Prof. Dr. Volker Grimm is a world renowned Scientist at the Department of Ecological Modelling at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ in Leipzig, Germany, and is Professor for Theoretical Ecology at the University of Potsdam. With over 14,000 citations (Google Scholar) of more than 200 publications, he is a world leading expert on ecological modelling and has co-authored both the first monograph and first textbook on individual-based/agent-based modelling. Volker has worked on a plethora of different model systems and species, but BEEHAVE may have been the most ambitious and complex modelling project that he has been involved in so far.
Volker describes working with BEEHAVE;
“Usually I am quite skeptical of complex models, as often their design is ad hoc, they are not well tested, and very hard to understand. But I very much like BEEHAVE, which certainly is the most complex I have been involved with (but there are much more complex models out there). I think BEEHAVE is a fantastic scientific tool because I had the chance to observe how careful Matthias Becher developed it. He would only add a new element after the current version had been thoroughly tested. He based the design on our literature review of existing models and on existing data and knowledge. The model is well documented and implemented in an open-source software, NetLogo, that comes with a graphical interface and a simulation tool (“BehaviorSpace”) which facilitates exploration of the model in a systematic way.”
Model Development Communication and Validation
What: Volker’s main research focus is on optimising model development, communication, and validation. He has been involved in modelling a broad range of plant and animal populations and communities. Using agent-based models, he tries to link behavior to population and community dynamics and to develop a mechanistic basis for resilience theory.
Where: Department of Ecological Modelling at UFZ in Leipzig, Germany.
Development and quality assurance of BEEHAVE
What: He has been involved in the review of current honeybee models that was the basis of the BEEHAVE project, and provided internal reviews and expert advice on the development, implementation, testing, and application of BEEHAVE. In a PhD project carried out in his research group by Juliane Horn, the effect of forage availability in artificial and real landscapes was explored using BEEHAVE.
Where: Department of Ecological Modelling at UFZ in collaboration with the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) of the University of Exeter UK.
Prof. Dr. Volker Grimm is Biologist and Physicist and has worked at the Department of Ecological Modelling at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ in Leipzig, Germany since 1992, and he is a Professor for Theoretical Ecology at the University of Potsdam. Volker Grimm has a PhD in Physics and a Diploma Degree in both Biology and Physics from the University of Marburg, Germany.