Researcher biography

Dr. Matthew Holden is an applied mathematician using modelling to improve environmental outcomes. Mathematical tools unify his research across several diverse topics in biodiversity conservation, theoretical ecology, fisheries, and other branches of natural resource management. He is especially interested in how we improve the well-being of human populations at least cost to biodiversity.

Dr. Holden currently serves as the Vice President of the Resource Modeling Association, an international society of economists, mathematicians, and envrionmental scientists unified via their passion for modelling and other quantitative methods to solve the world's hardest natural resource management problems. He also is the Deputy Director of Research for the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science (CBCS), and is also affiliated with the Centre for Marine Science (CMS).

Dr. Holden was awarded his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, where he used dynamical systems, optimal control, and statistical theory to recommend policies to improve the management of invasive species, agricultural pests, and fisheries. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis, where he won the University Medal, working on the effect of habitat fragmentation on the persistence of endangered species.