I hold the position of Assistant Professor in environmental science, environmental modeling, and climate change impacts. My role encompasses a significant teaching load, catering to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. I teach a range of courses, including Basic Ecology (BIOL 221), Earth System (BIOL 501), GIS and Databases (BIOL 502), Earth System Modeling (BIOL 617), Geospatial Methods (BIOL 613) and Advanced Graduate Seminar (BIOL 600). Additionally, I am presently serving as a Research Fellow specializing in environmental modeling and climate change within the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University, and I hold an adjunct Research Fellow position at Flinders University.

          Prior to my move to Qatar, I held 4 research postdoctoral fellowship positions at three Australian universities: the University of New England, Macquarie University, and Flinders University + I worked for the Biosecurity Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Queensland Government, and for the Department of Regional NSW – Primary Industries. 

My contributions in the field of environmental sciences and ecology and modelling have earned recognition as one of Stanford/Elsevier’s Top 2% Scientists, a prestigious accolade conferred in the Autumn of 2022, 2023 and 2024 (https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/6). I graduated with a PhD in environmental science, environmental modelling and climate change from the University of New England in Australia.

I currently serve as an academic editor for several journals, including the Journal of Biogeography, Ecology and Evolution, & PeerJ. I have also been involved in the scholarly community as a grant reviewer for The Marsden Fund Council in 2019. 

My academic achievements include being awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Doctoral Research Medal for excellence in the University of New England Doctor of Philosophy program, as well as the University of New England International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) and the Keith and Dorothy Mackay Travelling Scholarship.

          In February 2018, I joined Global Ecology Lab as an Associate Investigator in palaeo-ecological vegetation modeling for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), a $46M project. Here, my work involved the application of cutting-edge global dynamic vegetation models, including the LPJ-GUESS model, alongside various bioclimatic envelope models. This empowers me to meticulously analyze the ramifications of both future and historical climate changes on Australia’s extant and extinct species. A focal point of my research is uncovering the influence of environmental fluctuations on the evolution of Australia’s natural history, particularly vegetation communities. This time-spanning exploration, spanning back 200,000 years, serves a vital purpose: gleaning insights into how Australia’s unique biota have adapted to prolonged climatic stresses. This understanding provides invaluable lessons for the preservation of Australia’s environment and society in the coming years. I am proud to share that one of my palaeoclimate studies (currently under review) suggests potential shifts in forest distribution due to climate warming, increased wildfire occurrences, and rising CO₂ concentrations. However, these projections remain uncertain due to complex factors such as human-driven fires, landscape alterations, and invasive species.

          In the Which Plant Where project ($12M), I ran bioclimatic envelope models for ~ 2500 plant species and then developed online tools allowing people to find out where popular plants are likely/unlikely to thrive in Australia under current and future climates. Which Plant Where, When And Why Database For Growing Urban Greenspace is funded by the Hort Frontiers Green Cities Fund, part of the Hort Frontiers strategic partnership initiative developed by Hort Innovation, with co-investment from Macquarie University, Western Sydney University and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and contributions from the Australian Government. I also was involved in another project entitled “WEED FUTURES, determining current and future weed threats in Australia.”

          From February 2016 to February 2018, I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of New England (UNE) within the School of Environmental and Rural Science. During my tenure at UNE, I taught courses in GIS, Remote Sensing, and Image Analysis to both undergraduate and postgraduate students (EM334/534 & EM432/EM532). Additionally, I co-supervised several Doctor of Philosophy students, two of whom I began supervising on December 2nd, 2015. At UNE, I also served as one of the GIS specialists for the Commonwealth Department of Environment Pacific Climate Change Project, a national project conducted at UNE on behalf of the Australian government during 2013 and 2014.

I am particularly interested in the area of

• vegetation modelling
• climate change impacts on biodiversity and plant species
• risk assessments
• GIS and spatial analysis
• biodiversity
• big data analysis
• soil erosion

I can be reached via email at fshabani@qu.edu.qa, AND farzin.shabani@flinders.edu.au.

EcoSpatialLab: link

ORCID: link  

Scopus ID: link  

Google Scholar: link  

Publons: link  

ResearchGate: link