I am a biomathematician and hold the South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Mathematical and Theoretical Physical Biosciences. My research lies at the interface of mathematics and biology, where I develop formal and applied mathematical frameworks to explain how biological complexity emerges from eco-evolutionary interactions. My primary research interests include biodiversity entropy partitioning; the structural emergence of open adaptive networks; dynamic species distribution modelling; spatial macroecology under climate change; adaptive behaviour and movement; evolutionary game theory and adaptive games; and algebraic systems biology.

My contributions include the development of scaling patterns of occupancy, the formulation of zeta diversity for multisite compositional similarity and biodiversity partitioning, theoretical advances in invasion dynamics, performance and resilience in complex networks with trait-mediated interactions, and the portfolio effects of landscape-level demography. By combining the simplicity and precision of mathematical language with biological realism, my work aims to advance general theory and deepen our understanding of complex and adaptive natural systems.

I am a Full Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Coordinator of the Biomathematics Honours Programme. I am also a Core Team Member of the Centre for Invasion Biology within the School for Climate Studies, Coordinator of the Complexity in Biological Systems focus area at the National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences, a Researcher at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (Muizenberg), and a Trustee of the International Initiative for Theoretical Ecology (London). I serve on the editorial boards of three journals and act as Associate Editor for five journals, including Mathematics in Medical and Life Sciences (Taylor & Francis), Global Ecology and Biogeography (Wiley), Biological Invasions (Springer), Ecological Complexity (Elsevier), and Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (Springer).