Conservation ecology, global environmental change

2014 – Ph.D., Princeton University

2010 – M.Sc., National University of Singapore

2007 – B.Sc. (Hons I), National University of Singapore

Conservation ecology, global environmental change, freshwater ecosystems, community assembly, macroecology, ecological statistics, socio-ecological systems

Increasing anthropogenic demands for food, energy, and raw materials are driving global-scale environmental changes with profound impacts on biodiversity. Our research group focuses on characterizing and mitigating anthropogenic impacts on the environment with an emphasis on freshwater ecosystems. We combine fieldwork with the development and application of theoretical, statistical, and meta-analytic modeling tools to conduct interdisciplinary, policy-relevant research across multiple spatial scales.

Specific research themes include:

• Understanding how environmental change impacts species, communities, and ecosystems, and developing effective mitigation strategies
• Examining how future demand for food and bioenergy impacts biodiversity conservation
• Uncovering the effects of climate change, land-use change, dams, and invasive species on aquatic communities in the Southern Appalachians
• Elucidating mechanisms underlying large-scale patterns of species richness, turnover, and co-occurrence to inform regional and global conservation priorities

Disentangling the roles of climate change and anthropogenic land-use change on biomass fires and their impact on aquatic biodiversity in Southeast Asia

Visit Google Scholar for the full list of publications

• Troia MJ, Kaz AL, Giam X. 2025. Within-reach temperature heterogeneity is limited in a southern Appalachian stream network, southeastern USA. Journal of Hydrology 657: 133127.
• Danet A, Giam X, Olden JD, Comte L. 2024. Past and recent anthropogenic pressures drive rapid changes in riverine fish communities. Nature Ecology and Evolution 8: 442-453.
• Liang D, Giam X, Hu S, Ma L, Wilcove DS. 2023. Assessing the illegal hunting of native wildlife in China. Nature 623: 100-105.
• Herrera-R G, Tedesco PA, DoNascimiento C, Jézéquel C, Giam X. 2023. Accessibility and appeal jointly bias the inventory of Neotropical freshwater fish fauna. Biological Conservation 284: 110186.
• Carrasco L, Giam X, Sheldon KS, Papeş M. 2022. The relative influence of history, climate, topography, and vegetation structure on local animal richness varies among taxa and spatial grains. Journal of Animal Ecology 91: 1596-1611.
• Zhu G, Papeş M, Armsworth PR, Giam X. 2022. Climate change vulnerability of terrestrial vertebrates in a major refuge and dispersal corridor in North America. Diversity and Distributions 28: 1227-1241.
• Woods T, Kaz A, Giam X. 2022. Phenology in freshwaters: a review and recommendations for future research. Ecography 2022: e05564.
• Comte L, Olden JD, Tedesco PA, Ruhi A, Giam X. 2021. Climate and land-use changes interact to drive long-term reorganization of riverine fish communities globally. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118: e2011639118.
• Carrasco L, Papeş M, Sheldon KS, Giam X. 2021. Global progress in incorporating climate adaptation into land protection for biodiversity since Aichi targets. Global Change Biology 27: 1788-1801.
• Woods T, Comte L, Tedesco PA, Giam X. 2020. Testing the diversity-biomass relationship in riverine fish communities. Global Ecography and Biogeography 29: 1743-1757.
• Troia MJ, Kaz AL, Niemeyer JC, Giam. X. 2019. Species traits and reduced habitat suitability limit efficacy of climate change refugia in streams. Nature Ecology and Evolution 3: 1321-1330.
• Giam X, Olden JD, Simberloff D. 2018. Impact on coal mining on stream biodiversity in the US and its regulatory implications. Nature Sustainability 1: 176-183.