Theoretical ecology, spatial dynamics, ecosystems and science-policy
McGlade’s PhD research on the mathematical and statistical analysis of the phenotypic and genotypic variability showed the critical importance of spatial dynamics in determining evolutionary divergence and ecological sustainability in freshwater and marine fish populations. This work led to her establishing the first population dynamics and genetics laboratory and developing spatial Lotka-Volterra models, ecological networks and artificial intelligence to apply earth observations in biological oceanography, fisheries and fleet deployment in Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the USA) and the intelligence systems laboratory at Xerox PARC.
From 1987-1990, Professor McGlade continued her research in systematics, ichthyology, population dynamics and coastal issues in Cambridge as the Adrian Fellow at Darwin College, at the International Federation of Institutes of Advanced Study in the Netherlands, and Cranfield Institute in the UK.
In 1988 Professor McGlade was appointed as a Director at KFA (now FZ) Jülich in Germany and led research on theoretical ecology. In 1992 she became Professor in Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick and from 2000 was NERC Professorial Fellow at University College London. She and her research teams developed knowledge about spatial dynamical systems (differential equations, coupled-map lattices, cellular automata and individual based models) to study the behaviour of a wide range of ecosystems. The ideas and theories developed led to significant insights into the role of evolutionarily stable attractors, invasion exponents and phenotype dynamics in a wide range of ecosystems, including the African savannah, marine communities, annual and perennial plants and forests and red grouse.
From 1998-2000, she was Director of NERC's Center for Coastal and Marine Science. She also served as a Board Member of the Environment Agency England and Wales and as a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering. In 2013 she was appointed as Chief Scientist of UNEP where she has researched the science policy interface, integrated global environmental assessment, near-real time environmental monirtoing systems and the use of geospatial and big data in statistics for sustainable development.
