INAR · University of Helsinki
Allan T. Souza
Ecologist and research data steward integrating long-term records, research-infrastructure observations and citizen-science data to understand biodiversity change.
Allan T. Souza
University Researcher, Coordinator of ST4RIS (Horizon Europe)
Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR)
University of Helsinki
Biography
Allan T. Souza is an ecologist and research data steward at the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), University of Helsinki. His work asks how we can detect and explain biodiversity change by combining long-term field records, standardised observations from research infrastructures, and new digital data from citizens and the internet. He trained as a marine and aquatic ecologist and has followed this question across very different ecosystems: tropical reefs in Brazil, estuaries in Portugal and reservoirs in the Czech Republic, much of it based on long-term monitoring programmes. In Helsinki he works with eLTER, the European long-term ecosystem research infrastructure, to make environmental data findable, interoperable and reusable. He coordinates the Horizon Europe project ST4RIS, which supports training and careers for research infrastructure staff. In 2025, his team received the University of Helsinki Open Science Award for opening up more than a century of forest data from Hyytiälä Forest Station.
Download my short CV.
- Climate change
- Biological invasions
- Conservation
- Species distribution
- Fisheries
- Data science
- Data analysis
- Data visualization
- Data management
- Data stewardship
- Research Infrastructures
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Data Steward, 2023
University of Vienna (Austria)
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PhD in Marine and Environmental Sciences, 2013
University of Porto (Portugal)
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MSc. in Biological Sciences - Zoology, 2007
Universidade Federal da Paraíba (Brazil)
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BSc in Biological Sciences - Marine Biology, 2005
Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil)
Research
Allan T. Souza is an ecologist who studies how biodiversity changes over decades, and how the data used to see that change are produced, combined and made reusable.
Ecology in a changing world
Fish and invertebrate ecology, climate change and invasions
Trained as an aquatic ecologist, he studies how climate change, biological invasions and human pressures shape the populations, behaviour and functional diversity of fish and invertebrates, from tropical reefs and estuaries to lakes and reservoirs.
Key work
- Invasive species and climate change disrupt fish functional diversity (NeoBiota, 2023)
- Pikeperch growth, temperature and eutrophication (Fisheries Research, 2023)
- Boom and bust: climate scenarios for a global invader (Sci. Total Environ., 2022)
- Climate change and extreme weather in an estuarine fish community (Sci. Total Environ., 2022)
- Climate and the viability of common carp populations in European lakes (Biological Invasions, 2022)
Long-term change
Long-term monitoring and legacy data
Many ecological questions can only be answered with long time series. He analyses long-term monitoring data, from estuarine and reservoir fish surveys to century-old forest measurements, and rescues legacy datasets so that others can reuse them.
Key work
- Ten years of fish monitoring in the Minho estuary (Biodiversity Data Journal, 2024)
- Forest measurements at Hyytiälä, 1909–2024 (dataset, 2025)
- Long-term monitoring of fish in a freshwater reservoir (Front. Environ. Sci., 2022)
- Ghost tags imperil the long-term monitoring of fishes (PLOS ONE, 2020)
New eyes on biodiversity
Citizen science, iEcology and digital twins
Citizen science, social media and other online sources produce huge amounts of biodiversity data. His work explores how to use these data, through iEcology, culturomics and biodiversity digital twins, and how weather, place and people shape what gets recorded.
Key work
- A digital twin for real-time biodiversity forecasting with citizen science data (Nature Ecol. Evol., 2026)
- iEcology: harnessing large online resources (Trends Ecol. Evol., 2020)
- Conservation culturomics and iEcology in aquatic realms (PLOS Biology, 2020)
- iEcology data reveal invasive species behaviour (Methods Ecol. Evol., 2026)
Data infrastructures and people
FAIR and AI-ready research infrastructures
Long-term and digital data are only useful if they are findable, interoperable and reusable. He works with eLTER and other European research infrastructures on data standards, interoperability and tools, and on training and careers for the people who run these infrastructures.
Key work
- Fragmented Networks: communication in European biodiversity infrastructures (Biodiversity Data Journal, 2025)
- Managing data in ecology and fishery science (book chapter, 2022)
- eLTER Standard Observations costs web application (software, 2024)
- ST4RIS: training and careers for research infrastructure staff (Horizon Europe, 2026–2029)
Experience
Joined as Postdoctoral Researcher in 2023. Long-term biodiversity data, citizen science and European research infrastructures.
- Coordinator of ST4RIS (Horizon Europe, 2026–2029): training and careers for research infrastructure staff
- Work package leader in eLTER PLUS (Virtual Access via the eLTER Information System); data mobilisation, standards and interoperability in eLTER
- Data workflows and web applications for the Biodiversity Digital Twin (BioDT)
- Open data from Hyytiälä Forest Station (1909–2024), University of Helsinki Open Science Award 2025
- Teaching data stewardship, statistics and data analysis
Ecology and behaviour of freshwater fish in reservoirs and lakes, based on long-term monitoring.
- Recruitment, growth and stocking of pikeperch (otolith shape and microchemistry)
- Fish sampling methods (gillnets, hydroacoustics, telemetry) and fisheries management
Current Projects
Funded projects Allan T. Souza currently coordinates or works in. See all projects, including past projects.
eLTER EnRich
Team member · Horizon Europe · 2024–2027
Bridging the phases towards the integrated European long-term ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research infrastructure (eLTER RI).
Website CORDISSelected Publications
A selection of key papers across the three research lines.
Recent Publications
Software & Data
Tools and open datasets that make long-term ecological data easier to explore and reuse.
Software & tools
Web applications, workflows and code
- Hyytiälä Forest Explorer: interactive web app to explore more than a century of forest measurements at Hyytiälä Forest Station, for researchers, teachers and students.
App - eLTER Standard Observations costs app: web application that estimates the costs of running eLTER standard observations at sites and platforms.
DOI Poster - BioDT graphical user interface: contribution to the web interface for interacting with biodiversity digital twins.
Abstract - iNaturalist Tagger: web app for semantic tagging of citizen-science images, used to compare human and LLM annotations.
- eLTER vocabulary standardisation: code and resources to standardise eLTER terms.
Code
Open datasets
Long-term and legacy data, openly published
- Hyytiälä Forest Station, 1909–2024: time series of forest measurements and management practices. University of Helsinki Open Science Award 2025.
DOI - Minho estuary fish community, 2010–2019: ten years of fyke-net monitoring in an LTSER platform.
DOI Data paper - Fernando de Noronha shallow reef fishes: reef fish assemblages under different levels of protection.
Data paper - Amphipod life-history data, three NE Atlantic estuaries: production and life-history traits under different human pressures.
Data paper - Pikeperch otolith microchemistry, Lipno Reservoir: micro-elemental composition of a pikeperch population.
DOI - Gillnet catches: fish directivity and micro-distribution: dataset behind the 2024 study in Water.
DOI
Awards
Teaching & Training
Allan T. Souza teaches data analysis, version control and research data management, and develops training for data stewards and research infrastructure staff.
University teaching
University of Helsinki and Université Paris-Saclay
- Statistics and data analysis: lectures on multiple testing, group comparisons and time-series analysis (courses ATM5001 and ATM308), University of Helsinki.
- Introduction to R tidyverse: Environmental Data Science (ATMDP-007), University of Helsinki, 2024.
Slides - Git and version control: introductory lectures on version control for collaborative development.
Basics of Git Crash course on Git - Research data management: best practices for Methods in Plant Ecophysiology (FOR-284, 2024) and an introductory lecture in the University of Helsinki RDM courses (2023).
Slides Details - Invited lectures, Master in Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution: data management and open science, and career paths in ecology, Université Paris-Saclay, 2025.
Training & invited talks
Data stewards, research infrastructures and research communities
- ST4RIS: coordinator of the Horizon Europe project on training, mobility and careers for research infrastructure staff (2026–2029).
Project - FAIR RDM Train-the-Trainers Bootcamp for Data Stewards (OpenAIRE, online, October 2026): trainer, with the talk From Data Mobilisation to AI-Supported FAIR Dataset Curation.
Event - Invited seminar, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay (SemIDEEV, November 2025): eLTER and BioDT: Developing the Digital Infrastructure for Environmental Science in Europe.
Event - Publishing data papers: talk on the user's perspective for Biodiversity Data Journal, 2023.
Slides Details
Collaborations
Main institutions, research infrastructures and networks Allan T. Souza works with.
eLTER
Research infrastructure
European long-term ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research infrastructure, and the Finnish eLTER community at INAR, University of Helsinki.
WebsiteBiodiversity Digital Twin
Consortium
BioDT partners building prototype digital twins for biodiversity, including real-time bird monitoring with citizen-science data.
WebsiteiEcology and conservation culturomics
Research networks
Networks using online and digital data for ecology, conservation and invasion science, with partners at Université Paris-Saclay and the University of Turku.
iEcology Conservation culturomicsEuropean research infrastructures
Data interoperability
Work on communication and data harmonisation across ICOS, ACTRIS, DiSSCo, LifeWatch ERIC and GBIF.
Related paperBiology Centre CAS
Institute of Hydrobiology, Czech Republic
Long-term reservoir fish monitoring, fish ecology and fisheries research.
WebsiteCIIMAR and University of Minho
Portugal
Estuarine ecology, long-term fish monitoring in the Minho estuary and invasive bivalves.
CIIMAR University of MinhoContact
- allan.souza@helsinki.fi
- Latokartanonkaari 7, P.O. Box 27, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014
- Follow on Mastodon