About

I am a plant community ecologist with extensive experience in botany, vegetation survey, biodiversity, and conservation. I have led national and international research projects, with my work contributing significantly to our understanding of the flora and vegetation of Southwest Asia, particularly threatened ecosystems.

I am an active member of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS), serving on its Global Sponsorship Committee and Council, and as Chair of the Asian Regional Section. In this role, I am committed to strengthening collaboration and boosting vegetation ecology research across the Asian continent.

At the University of Derby, I am Programme Leader for both the MSc Conservation Biology and MSc Environmental Assessment and Control programmes. I am proud to work with a diverse community of national and international students, providing an exciting, practical, and inspiring learning experience that connects scientific knowledge with real-world conservation and environmental challenges.

Teaching responsibilities

• Adaptation to Environment (Undergraduate – Module Leader)
• Ecological Surveying (Postgraduate – Module Leader)
• Conservation Biology in Principle and Practice (Postgraduate – Module Leader)
• Biodiversity and Ecophysiology
• Ecology
• Field Biology
• Habitat Management

Professional interests

• Plant community ecology and vegetation science
• Biodiversity conservation and environmental management
• Vegetation survey and ecological assessment
• Conservation education and field-based learning
• International research collaboration and capacity building
• Development of vegetation science across Asia
• Sustainable management and restoration of natural habitats

Research interests

My research focuses on understanding plant diversity and vegetation ecology through field-based studies and data-driven approaches. I have a strong interest in:

• Geobotany, Floristics, and Ethnobotany – Exploring plant distributions, traditional ecological knowledge, and floristic diversity across various ecosystems.
• Community Ecology, Macroecology, and Biogeography – Investigating ecological patterns and processes at different spatial and temporal scales to better understand species distributions and ecosystem dynamics.
• Palaeoecology and Conservation Biology – Studying historical vegetation changes and developing strategies for biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration.
• Spatio-temporal Patterns of Species Diversity – Analyzing diversity patterns across landscapes to inform conservation efforts and ecological management.
• Species Modelling and Statistical Ecology – Applying advanced statistical methods and ecological modeling to predict species distributions and assess environmental impacts.

Membership of professional bodies

• International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) (2009–present)

  • Elected Member of the IAVS Council

  • Chair of the Asian Regional Section, supporting and promoting vegetation ecology research and collaboration across Asia

  • Member of the Global Sponsorship Committee

  • Member of the Membership Committee

• Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) (2023–present)

  • Member of the Governing Board – Skills and Training Committee, Involved in reviewing and allocating grants supporting research, training, and professional development activities

• British Ecological Society (BES) (2022–present)

• Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) (2010–present)

  • Member of the Steering Committee, Contribute to the development of research and collaboration on Eurasian dry grassland ecology and conservation

Qualifications

• 2024: Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Derby, UK
• 2022: Sponsored research associate, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, UK
• 2018: Full Professor of Botany and Ecology at the Department of Plant Biology, University of Mazandaran, Iran
• 2017: Director of Botanical Garden and Herbarium of University of Mazandaran, Iran
• 2012: Associate Professor at the Department of Biology, University of Mazandaran, Iran
• 2008: Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology, University of Mazandaran, Iran
• 2008: Ph.D. Botany and Plant Ecology, University of Tehran, Iran with Joint collaboration with The University of Sheffield, UK [Thesis title: Vegetation ecology and conservation of threatened mountain mires in Alborz Mts. Iran]
• 2003: M.Sc. Plant Systematics and Ecology, University of Tehran, Iran [Thesis title: Forest communities, diversity and ecology of last remnants of Alnus glutinosa in the Hyrcanian ecoregion of Iran]

Recent conferences

• Naqinezhad A (2024) Biome types determine direction of phylogenetic diversity changes depending on spatial scale considered. British Ecological Society (BES) Annual Meeting, Liverpool, UK.
• Naqinezhad A (2024) Trends of globally-traded plants across space and time: Implications for biodiversity conservation. 66th International Conference of the International Association of Vegetation Science (IAVS), Portugal.
• Naqinezhad A (2023) Climate and land use impact on biodiversity of the Hyrcanian region. 65th International Conference of the International Association of Vegetation Science (IAVS), Australia.
• Naqinezhad A (2023) Global trade of plants. British Ecological Society (BES) Annual Meeting, Belfast, Northern Ireland. [Poster Presentation]
• Naqinezhad A (2021) Mapping Asia Plants: Challenges and opportunities. The Second International Symposium of Mapping Asia Plants, China. [Keynote Speaker]

Experience in industry

• International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) 

  • Elected council member, contributing to global vegetation science initiatives (2023–2027, 2019–2023).
  • Chair of the Asian Section, promoting vegetation research in underrepresented regions (2022–present).
  • Member of the Global Sponsorship Committee (GSC), supporting funding opportunities for early-career researchers (2014–present).
  • Member of the Membership Committee, fostering engagement within the global scientific community (2019–present).

• Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) 

  • Elected Steering Committee member, serving as the contact person to IAVS and Treasurer (2023–2025).
  • Long-term member, contributing to grassland conservation and research initiatives (2010–present).

• Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) 

  • Member of the Skills & Training Committee, supporting professional development initiatives (2023–present).

• University of Sheffield, UK 

  • Research Fellowship, focusing on plant trade and conservation (2022–2023).

• Chinese Academy of Sciences 

  • Research collaboration on the Mapping Asia Plants (MAP) project (2019–2022).

• Rufford Small Grants Foundation, UK 

  • Project leader for conservation initiatives focusing on biodiversity protection in threatened ecosystems (2015)

• Editorial and Scientific Publishing Contributions 

  • Associate Editor of Vegetation Classification and Survey (2024–present).
  • Deputy Chief Editor and Scientific Editor of Palearctic Grasslands (2023–2025).
  • Subject Editor of Plant Biosystems (2024–2027).
  • Editorial review board member of Applied Vegetation Science (2022).

• Peer-Reviewing Contributions 

  • Reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals, including Applied Vegetation Science, Biodiversity and Conservation, Global Ecology and Conservation, and Plant Ecology.

International experience

Long-term Academic Stays:

• Research Fellowship at the University of Sheffield, UK (2023–2024).
• Sabbatical leave at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (2019–2020).
• Research stay at Ghent University, Belgium, under the PASTFORWARD project (2019).
• Research stay at the University of Göttingen, Germany, supported by DAAD (2014).
• Sabbatical leave at the University of Hamburg, Germany (2011).
• Research stay at the University of Sheffield, UK, funded by the British Council (2007–2008).

Short-term Academic Stays:

• Visiting Professor at the University of Sassari, Italy, under a collaborative project (2019).
• Research stay at Opole University, Poland, under the Erasmus+ Programme (2019).
• Participation in the GrassPlot consortium workshop at Bayreuth University, Germany (2017).
• Herbarium research visits to:
  • Munich Botanical Garden, Germany (2017).
  • Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, France (2015).
  • Kew Botanical Garden, UK (2007).
  • Montpelier University, France, and Geneva, Switzerland (2016).
  • Natural History Museum of Vienna, Austria (2005).
• Research stay at Aix-Marseille Université and Tour du Valat, France (2016).

International Collaborative Research Projects:

• Principal investigator of the Jundishapour Franco-Iranian bilateral project on wild grapevine ecology (2015–2016).
• Research collaborator in the Rufford Small Grants-funded biodiversity conservation project in Iran (2015–2018).
• Participant in the Mapping Asia Plants (MAP) project with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2019–2022).

Field Research and Excursion Experiences:

• Gondwana Rainforests of NSW, Australia – 6-day pre-symposium excursion (2023).
• Wetland ecosystems of the Arles region, France, under the Franco-Iranian project (2016).
• Salt marsh habitats across Eastern France and Rennes region under the Franco-Iranian project (2015).
• Research expedition to European dry grasslands in Ukraine (15 days), funded by the European Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) (2010).
• Botanical excursions conducted for international botanists and ecologists across Iran (2008–present).
• Mire habitats across Central and Southern England, funded by the British Council (2007).

In the media

My recent talk, "Forests in Times of Climate Change," as part of the ENLIGHT Lecture Series, has been featured on YouTube.

ENLIGHT Lecture Series: Forests in Times of Climate Change

Recent publications

Book Chapters

• Shrestha B, Witt A, Khuroo A, Shen Sh, Naqinezhad A (2022) Plant invasion in Asia. In: Clements DR, Upadhyaya MK, Joshi S, Shrestha A (Eds.), Global Plant Invasions. Springer.
• Ambarli D, Vrahnakis M, Burrascano S, Naqinezhad A, Pulido Fernández M (2018) Grasslands of the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East and their management. In: Squires VR, Dengler J, Feng H, Hua L (Eds.), Grasslands of the world: diversity, management and conservation. CRC Press, Boca Raton, US. ISBN 9781498796262.
• Ambarli D, Naqinezhad A, Aleksanyan A (2020) Grasslands and Shrublands of the Middle East and the Caucasus. In: Dengler J, Biurrun I, Boch S, Dembicz I, Török P (Eds.), Grasslands of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm: Introduction and synthesis. Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes, Section 8 – Grasslands and Shrublands.

Journal Papers

• Naqinezhad A, Morton O, Edwards DP (2024) Increasing timber and declining live plant diversity and volumes in global trade from 2000 to 2020. Communications Earth & Environment, 5, pp. 1-9.
• Talebi A, Vynokuro D, Attar F, Dengler J, Naqinezhad A (2024) Vegetation of the southern slopes of Mt. Damavand, Iran: a comprehensive phytosociological classification. Vegetation Classification and Survey, pp. 301-328.
• Naqinezhad A (2024) IranVeg – the Vegetation Database of Iran: current status and the way forward. Vegetation Classification and Survey, 5, pp. 237-256.
• Hähn G, Damasceno G, Alvarez-Davila E, Aubin I, Bauters M, Bergmeier E, Biurrun I, Bjorkman AD, Bonari G, Botta-Dukát Z, Campos J, Čarni A, Naqinezhad A, et al. (2024) Global decoupling of functional and phylogenetic diversity in plant communities. Nature Ecology and Evolution, pp. 1-39.
• Nowak A, Świerszcz S, Naqinezhad A, Nowak S, Nobis M (2024) The Pistacietea verae: A new class of open, deciduous woodlands in Middle and Southwestern Asia. Vegetation Classification and Survey, 5, pp. 109–126.
• Khorasani M, Naqinezhad A, Mirtadzadini M (2024) Untangling the taxonomy of Rorida (Cleomaceae) in Iran. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 109, pp. 148-162.
• Khorasani M, Naqinezhad A, Soares Neto RL, Brundu G (2024) Tarenaya spinosa (Jacq.) Raf. (Cleomaceae): A new addition to the naturalized alien flora of Iran. BioInvasions Records, 13(4), pp. 871–889.
• Naqinezhad A (2024) Higher on the mountains: dynamics of agro-pastoral practices in a low-latitude mountain system (Karkas Mts, central Iran) during the Mediaeval Warm Period and Little Ice Age. Quaternary Science Reviews.
• Naqinezhad A (2024) Bund flora in the traditional rice paddy terraces in some foothill landscapes of Guilan Province, N. Iran, towards conservation of phytodiversity in agroecosystems. Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences.
• Lotfi S, Gholizadeh H, Naqinezhad A, Amirzadeh M, Davarpanah SJ (2023) An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants of Rudsar and Amlash province. Journal of Applied Plant Biology, 1(1), pp. 1-11.
• Galou A, Jump AS, Lynn JS, Field R, et al., Naqinezhad A, (2023) Diurnal temperature range as a key predictor of plants’ elevation ranges globally. Nature Communications, 14(1), pp. 7890.
• Ramezani E, de Klerk P, Naqinezhad A, Theuerkauf M, Joosten H (2023) Long-term dynamics of Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) stands in the Hyrcanian forests of northern Iran. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 312, pp. 104871.
• Talebi A, Naqinezhad A, Attar F (2022) Trisetum spicatum (Poaceae: Pooideae): An interglacial relict in the Iranian mountains. Phytotaxa, 532, pp. 85–92.
• Ulrich W, Matthews TJ, Biurrun I, et al., Naqinezhad A (2022) Environmental drivers and spatial scaling of species abundance distributions in Palaearctic grassland vegetation. Ecology, e3725.
• Erdős L, Ambarli D, Anenkhonov OA, Bátori Z, et al., Naqinezhad A (2018) The edge of two worlds: A new review and synthesis on Eurasian forest-steppes. Applied Vegetation Science, 21, pp. 345–362.
• Dengler J, Wagner V, Dembicz I, García-Mijangos I, et al., Naqinezhad A (2018) GrassPlot – A database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands. Phytocoenologia, 48, pp. 1–17.
• Mamizadeh L, Naqinezhad A (2018) Lepidium virginicum L. (Brassicaceae), a new record for the flora of Iran. Nova Biologica Reperta, 3, pp. 108–117.