Characterizing heterogeneity: spatial and diversity statistics applied to economy and ecology

My research focuses on the characterization of heterogeneity, specifically spatial structures and diversity. I have developed new measures of spatial structures and diversity applied mainly in geographical economics and tree biodiversity. The guiding principle of this methodological work is to construct measures that correspond to a physical reality, are easily understandable and can then be used to understand unambiguously the economic or ecological processes involved. My medium-term research project consists of combining the two approaches to characterize diversity explicitly in space and time and, beyond this methodological work, to move towards modelling the processes generating diversity patterns.