Dr. Anderson conducts interdisciplinary biogeographic research at various levels of biological organization. The overreaching theme is to characterize the spatial configuration of environmental suitability for species, and study its ecological, evolutionary and practical consequences.  To do so, he has been deeply involved in the development and use of methods for modeling species niches and distributions.  His taxonomic specialty is Neotropical mammals.

Links
http://forum.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/people/science-division-directory/robertand

https://www.amnh.org/research/staff-directory/robert-anderson-ph.d

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, 2001-2003
Ph.D. (honors) in Biology (Sytematics and Ecology), University of Kansas, 2001
B.A. (cum laude) in Biology, Kansas State University, 1994

Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher 2019 https://recognition.webofsciencegroup.com/awards/highly-cited/2019/

For production of multiple papers ranking in the top 1% by citations for field and year of publication (2008–2018; see Peer-reviewed Journal Publications); 169 researchers listed in Environment and Ecology category CCNY press: https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/robert-anderson-named-global-highly-cited-researcher-2019

Finalist, Nielsen Challenge, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2015 (Team member for software “Wallace: (beta v0.1): Harnessing

Digital Biodiversity Data for Predictive Modeling, Fueled by R”

Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists  http://www.nyas.org/awards/blavatnik.aspx

I conduct interdisciplinary biogeographic research at various levels of biological organization. As an overreaching research theme, my students and I aim to characterize the spatial configuration of environmental suitability for species, and study its ecological, evolutionary and practical consequences. This includes applications to conservation as well as the effects of climate change on biodiversity. To do so, I have been deeply involved in the development and use of methods for modeling species niches and distributions. My lab's current projects focus on the small mammals of the northern Neotropics (in particular those of isolated mountains in eastern Mexico) and development of the "Wallace" software for ecological modeling, the latter funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA. Recently, I have extended into the study of organismal traits in biogeography (as drivers of community composition; and with regard to local climatic adaptation).

Kass, J. M. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), Anderson, R. P., Espinosa-Lucas, A., Juárez-Jaimes, V., Martínez-Salas, E., Botello, F., Tavera, G., Flores-Martínez, J.J., Sánchez-Cordero, V. 2020. Biotic predictors with phenological information improve range estimates for migrating monarch butterflies in Mexico. Ecography, 43: 341–352. [Selected as Editor's Choice for that issue of the journal]

Soley-Guardia, M. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), A. C. Carnaval, and R. P. Anderson. 2019. Sufficient versus optimal climatic stability during the Late Quaternary: using environmental quality to guide phylogeographic inferences in a Neotropical montane system. Journal of Mammalogy, 100: 1783–1807.

Araújo, M. B., R. P. Anderson, A. M. Barbosa, C. M. Beale, C. F. Dormann, R. Early, R. A. Garcia, A. Guisan, L. Maiorano, B. Naimi, R. B. O’Hara, N. E. Zimmermann, and C. Rahbek. 2019. Standards for models in biodiversity assessments. Science Advances, 5: eaat4858. [Highly cited paper, Web of Science, 25 citations as of December 2019]

Bohl, C. L. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), J. M. Kass (Ph.D. student, CUNY), and R. P. Anderson. A new null model approach to quantifying performance and significance for ecological niche models of species distributions. 2019. Journal of Biogeography. 46:1101–1111. [Selected as Editor's Choice for that issue of the journal]

Burger, J. R., R . P. Anderson, M. A. Balk, and T. S. Fristoe. 2019. A Constraint-based model of Dynamic Island Biogeography: environmental history and species traits predict hysteresis in populations and communities. Frontiers of Biogeography. 11: e44383.

Peterson, A. T., R. P. Anderson, M. E. Cobos, M. Cuahutle, A. P. Cuervo-Robayo, L. E. Escobar, M. Fernandez, D. Jiménez-García, A. Lira-Noriega, J. M. Lobo, F. Machado-Stredel, E. Martínez-Meyer, C. Nuñez-Penichet, J. Nori, L. Osorio-Olvera, M. T. Rodríguez, O. Rojas-Soto, D. Romero-Álvarez, J. Soberón, S. Varela, C. Yañez-Arenas. 2019. Curso Modelado de Nicho Ecológico, Versión 1.0. Biodiversity Informatics, 14:1–7.

Peterson, A. T. et al. (55 total authors). 2019. Open access solutions for biodiversity journals: Do not replace one problem with another. Diversity and Distributions, 25:5–8.

Galante, P.J. (master’s student, CCNY), B. Alade (undergraduate student, CCNY), R. Muscarella, S. A. Jansa, S. M. Goodman, and R. P. Anderson. 2018.  The challenge of modeling niches and distributions for data-poor species: a comprehensive approach to model complexity. Ecography, 41:726–736. [Selected as Editor's Choice for that issue of the journal]

Gerstner, B. E. (master’s student, CCNY), J. M. Kass (Ph.D student. CCNY/CUNY), R. Kays, K. M. Helgen, and R. P. Anderson. 2018. Revised distributional estimates for the recently discovered olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina), with comments on natural and taxonomic history. Journal of Mammalogy, 99:321–332. [Featured on the cover of that issue of the journal]

Guevara, L., B. E. Gerstner (master’s student, CCNY), J. M. Kass (Ph.D. student, CCNY/CUNY), and R. P. Anderson. 2018. Toward ecologically realistic predictions of species distributions: a cross-time example from tropical montane cloud forests. Global Change Biology, 24:1511–1522.

Guevara, L. León-Paniagua, J. Rios (undergraduate student, CCNY), and R. P. Anderson. 2018. Variación entre Modelos de Circulación Global para reconstrucciones de distribuciones geográficas del Último Máximo Glacial: relevancia para la filogeografía [Variation among Global Circulation Models for reconstructions of geographic distributions at the Last Glacial Maximum: relevance for phylogeography]. Ecosystemas, 27:62–76.

Kass, J. M. (Ph.D. student, CCNY/CUNY), B. Vilela, M. E. Aiello-Lammens, R. Muscarella, C. Merow, and R. P. Anderson. 2018. Wallace: a flexible platform for reproducible modeling of species niches and distributions built for community expansion. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9:1151–1156.

Sanín, C. and R. P. Anderson. 2018. A framework for simultaneous tests of abiotic, biotic, and historical drivers of species distributions: empirical tests for North American wood-warblers based on climate and pollen. American Naturalist. 192:E48-E61.

Anderson, R. P. 2017. When and how should biotic interactions be considered in models of species niches and distributions? Journal of Biogeography, 44:8–17.

Boria, R. A. (master’s student, CCNY), L. E. Olson, S. M. Goodman, and R. P. Anderson. 2017. A single-algorithm ensemble approach to estimating suitability and uncertainty: cross-time projections for four Malagasy tenrecs. Diversity and Distributions, 23:196–208.

Phillips, S.J., R. P Anderson, M. Dudík, R. E. Schapire, and M. E. Blair. 2017. Opening the black box: an open-source release of Maxent. Ecography, 40:887–893. [Highly cited paper, Web of Science; 180 citations as of December 2019]

Cook J. A., S. E. Greiman, S. J. Agosta, R. P. Anderson, B. S. Arbogast, R. J. Baker, W. Boeger, R. D. Bradley, D. R. Brooks, R. Cole, J. R. Demboski, A. P. Dobson, J. L. Dunnum, R. P. Eckerlin, J. Esselstyn, K. E. Galbreath, J. Hawdon, H. E. Hoekstra, S. J. Kutz, J. E. Light, L. E. Olson, B. D. Patterson, J. L. Patton, A. J. Phillips, E. Rickart, D. S. Rogers, M. E. Siddall, V. V. Tkach, E. P. Hoberg. 2016. Transformational principles for NEON sampling of mammalian parasites and pathogens: a response to Springer and colleagues. BioScience, 66: 917–919.

Soley-Guardia, M. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), Gutiérrez, E. E. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), D. M. Thomas (undergraduate student, CCNY), J. Ochoa-G., M. Aguilera, and R. P. Anderson. 2016. Are we overestimating the niche? Removing marginal localities helps ecological niche models detect environmental barriers. Ecology and Evolution, 6: 1267–1279.

Anderson, R. P. 2015. Family Heteromyidae. Pp. 51–58 In: Mammals of South America, Volume 2: Rodents. J. L. Patton, U. F. J. Pardiñas, and G. D’Elía (editors). University of Chicago Press.

Aiello-Lammens, M. E., R. A. Boria (master’s student, CCNY), A. Radosavljevic (master’s student, CCNY), B. Vilela, and R. P. Anderson. 2015. spThin: an R package for spatial thinning of species occurrence records for use in ecological niche models. Ecography, 38:541–545. [Highly cited paper, Web of Science; 143 citations as of December 2019]

Boria, R. A. (master’s student, CCNY), L. E. Olson, S. M. Goodman, and R. P. Anderson. 2014. Spatial filtering to reduce sampling bias can improve the performance of ecological niche models. Ecological Modelling, 275:73–77. [Highly cited paper, Web of Science; 258 citations as of December 2019]

Gutiérrez, E. E. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), R. P. Anderson, R. S. Voss, J. Ochoa-G., M. Aguilera, and S. A. Jansa. 2014. Phylogeography of the mouse opossum Marmosa robinsoni: with insights into the biogeographic history of dry habitats in northern South America. Journal of Mammalogy, 95:1175–1188. [Featured on the cover of that issue of the journal]

Gutiérrez, E. E. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), R. A. Boria (undergraduate and master’s student, CCNY), and R. P. Anderson. 2014. Can biotic interactions cause allopatry? Niche models, competition, and distributions of South American mouse opossums. Ecography, 37:741–753. [Featured on the cover of that issue of the journal]

Muscarella, R., P. J. Galante (master’s student, CCNY), M. Soley-Guardia (Ph.D. student, CUNY), R. A. Boria (master’s student, CCNY), J. M. Kass (Ph.D. student, CUNY), M. Uriarte, and R. P. Anderson. 2014. ENMeval: An R package for conducting spatially independent evaluations and estimating optimal model complexity for MAXENT ecological niche models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 5:1198–1205. [Highly cited paper, Web of Science; 306 citations as of December 2019]

Radosavljevic, A. (master’s student, CCNY) and R. P. Anderson. 2014. Making better Maxent models of species distributions: complexity, overfitting, and evaluation. Journal of Biogeography, 41: 629–643. [Featured on the cover of that issue of the journal; Highly cited paper, Web of Science; 369 citations as of December 2019]

Soley-Guardia, M. (Ph.D. student, CUNY), A. Radosavljevic (master’s student, CCNY), J. L. Rivera (undergraduate student, CCNY), and R. P. Anderson. 2014. The effect of spatially marginal localities in modelling species niches and distributions. Journal of Biogeography, 41:1390–1401.

Varela, S., R. P. Anderson, R. García-Valdés, and F. Fernández-González. 2014. Environmental filters reduce the effects of sampling bias and improve predictions of ecological niche models. Ecography, 37:1084–1091.

Waltari, E., R. Schroeder, K. McDonald, R. P. Anderson, and A. Carnaval. 2014. Bioclimatic variables derived from remote sensing: assessment and application for species distribution modeling. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 5:1033–1042.

Anderson, R. P. 2013. A framework for using niche models to estimate impacts of climate change on species distributions. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1297:8–28. (Invited contribution to volume featuring research from the workshop, “Climate Change and Species Interactions: Ways Forward,” Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies).

Shcheglovitova, M. (undergraduate Honors student, CCNY) and R. P. Anderson. 2013. Estimating optimal complexity for ecological niche models: a jackknife approach for species with small sample sizes. Ecological Modelling, 269:9–17.

Anderson, R. P., E. E. Gutiérrez (Ph.D. student, CUNY), J. Ochoa-G., F. J. García, and M. Aguilera. 2012. Faunal nestedness and species–area relationship for small non-volant mammals in “sky islands” of northern Venezuela. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 47:157–170.

Anderson, R. P. 2012. Harnessing the world’s biodiversity data: promise and peril in ecological niche modeling of species distributions. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1260:66–80.

Anderson, R. P. and I. Gonzalez, Jr. (undergraduate student, CCNY). 2011. Species-specific tuning increases robustness to sampling bias in models of species distributions: an implementation with Maxent. Ecological Modelling, 222:2796–2811.

Peterson, A.T., J. Soberón, R. G. Pearson, R. P. Anderson, E. Martínez-Meyer, M. Nakamura, and M. B. Araújo. 2011. Ecological niches and geographic distributions. Monographs in Population Biology, 49. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Anderson, R. P. and A. Raza (undergraduate and master’s student, CCNY). 2010. The effect of the extent of the study region on GIS models of species geographic distributions and estimates of niche evolution: preliminary tests with montane rodents (genus Nephelomys) in Venezuela. Journal of Biogeography, 37:1378–1393. [Highly cited paper, Web of Science; 259 citations as of December 2019]

Anderson, R. P. and E. E. Gutiérrez (Ph.D. student, CUNY). 2009. Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of the genus Heteromys (Rodentia: Heteromyidae) in central and eastern Venezuela, with the description of a new species from the Cordillera de la Costa. In: R. S. Voss and M. D. Carleton (editors), Systematic mammalogy: contributions in honor of Guy G. Musser. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 331:33–93.

Anderson, R. P. and S. A. Jansa. 2007. Genetic comparisons between Heteromys desmarestianus and the recently described H. nubicolens (Rodentia: Heteromyidae) in northwestern Costa Rica. Mammalian Biology, 72:54–61.

Anderson, R. P., A. T. Peterson, and S. L. Egbert. 2006. Vegetation-index models predict areas vulnerable to purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) invasion in Kansas. Southwestern Naturalist, 51:471–480.

Anderson, R. P. and R. M. Timm. 2006. A new montane species of spiny pocket mouse (Rodentia: Heteromyidae: Heteromys) from northwestern Costa Rica. American Museum Novitates, 3509:1–38.

Anderson, R. P., M. Weksler (Ph.D. student, CUNY), and D. S. Rogers. 2006. Phylogenetic analyses of spiny pocket mice (Heteromyidae: Heteromyinae) based on allozymic and morphological data. Journal of Mammalogy, 87:1218–1233.

Elith, J., C. H. Graham, R. P. Anderson, M. Dudík, S. Ferrier, A. Guisan, R. J. Hijmans, F. Huettmann, J. R. Leathwick, A. Lehmann, J. Li, L. G. Lohmann, B. A. Loiselle, G. Manion, C. Moritz, M. Nakamura, Y. Nakazawa, J. M. Overton, A. T. Peterson, S. J. Phillips, K. Richardson, R. Scachetti-Pereira, R. E. Schapire, J. Soberón, S. Williams, M. S. Wisz, and N. E. Zimmerman. 2006. Novel methods improve prediction of species’ distributions from occurrence data. Ecography, 29:129–151.

[This work was featured in the "Research Highlights" section of Nature, 18 May 2006: 259.]

Phillips, S. J., R. P. Anderson, and R. E. Schapire. 2006. Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions. Ecological Modelling, 190:231–259.

Gómez-Laverde, M., R. P. Anderson, and L. F. García. 2004. Integrated systematic reevaluation of the Amazonian genus Scolomys (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae). Mammalian Biology, 69:119–139.

Anderson, R. P. and E. Martínez-Meyer. 2004. Modeling species’ geographic distributions for preliminary conservation assessments: an implementation with the spiny pocket mice (Heteromys) of Ecuador. Biological Conservation, 116:167–179.

Anderson, R. P. 2003. Real versus artefactual absences in species distributions: tests for Oryzomys albigularis (Rodentia: Muridae) in Venezuela. Journal of Biogeography, 30:591–605.

Anderson, R. P. 2003. Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of the genus Heteromys (Rodentia: Heteromyidae) in western Venezuela, with the description of a dwarf species from the Península de Paraguaná. American Museum Novitates, 3396:1–43.

Anderson, R. P., D. Lew, and A. T. Peterson. 2003. Evaluating predictive models of species’ distributions: criteria for selecting optimal models. Ecological Modelling, 162:211–232.

Anderson, R. P. and P. Jarrín-V. 2002. A new species of spiny pocket mouse (Heteromyidae: Heteromys) endemic to western Ecuador. American Museum Novitates, 3382:1–26.

Anderson, R. P., M. Gómez-Laverde, and A. T. Peterson. 2002. Geographical distributions of spiny pocket mice in South America: insights from predictive models. Global Ecology & Biogeography, 11:131–141.

Anderson, R. P. and C. O. Handley, Jr. 2002. Dwarfism in insular sloths: biogeography, selection, and evolutionary rate. Evolution, 56:1045–1058.

Anderson, R. P., A. T. Peterson, and M. Gómez-Laverde. 2002. Using niche-based GIS modeling to test geographic predictions of competitive exclusion and competitive release in South American pocket mice. Oikos, 98:3–16.

Anderson, R. P. and C. O. Handley, Jr. 2001. A new species of three-toed sloth (Mammalia: Xenarthra) from Panamá, with a review of the genus Bradypus. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 114:1–33.

[This work was featured in the “Discoveries” section of BBC Wildlife magazine, October 2001:17; the “Wildlife” section of National Geographic magazine, March 2006:2, 20; and the book  What on Earth? 100 of our planet’s most amazing new species, Wheeler, Q. and S. Pennak. 2013. Penguin Group, New York.]

Anderson, R. P. 1999 [2000]. Preliminary review of the systematics and biogeography of the spiny pocket mice (Heteromys) of Colombia. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, 23 (Suplemento especial):613–630. (invited contribution to a festschrift honoring Colombian herpetologist Dr. Pedro Ruiz)

Anderson, R. P. and P. J. Soriano. 1999. The occurrence and biogeographic significance of the southern spiny pocket mouse Heteromys australis in Venezuela. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde, 64:121–125.

Lim, B. K., M. D. Engstrom, R. M. Timm, R. P. Anderson, and L. C. Watson. 1999. First records of 10 bat species in Guyana and comments on diversity of bats in Iwokrama Forest. Acta Chiropterologica, 1:179–190.

Cadena, A., R. P. Anderson, and P. Rivas-Pava. 1998. Colombian mammals from the Chocoan slopes of Nariño. Occasional Papers, Museum of Texas Tech University, 180:1–15.