Hi, I’m Eric.
I’m a ‘data ecologist’. Academically trained in ecology, computational statistics, complexity science, and network theory. I work with social mission companies, organizations, investors, and philanthropists to use data for good.
Hi, I’m Eric.
I’m a ‘data ecologist’. Academically trained in ecology, computational statistics, complexity science, and network theory. I work with social mission companies, organizations, investors, and philanthropists to use data for good.
I’m a Data Scientist
I co-founded a visual data interface company which was acquired by Rakuten in 2016. I now run Vibrant Data Labs, a social impact data science group currently focused the building on an open-source framework for tracking the flows of money to climate mitigation and resilience efforts on the ground. Current partners and collaborators include: The Omidyar Group, Omidyar Network, Cisco Foundation, OneEarth, ClimateWorks Foundation, the Hopper-Dean Foundation, and TED among others. more…
I’m a Network Scientist
I have been collaborating with ecologists, physicists, and computer scientists since the late 1990’s to understand the architecture and dynamics of complex networks – from food webs to flows of money to friendship ties. Some might say I’m obsessed with finding simplicity in complexity. I’m currently focus on how a decentralized group of funders and doers can collectively tackle complex problems like climate change that are bigger than anyone alone can solve. more…
I’m an Ecologist
My academic career started in marine ecology, and migrated to alpine ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada, where I helped build the first University of California research and education center in Yosemite. In collaboration with park scientists, the USGS, and Microsoft Research, we synthesized satellite, climate, and field data to support conservation of threatened amphibians. A recurring theme of this research has been to leverage data and computation to facilitate evidence-based stewardship of nature. more…
Featured Publications
- Creative Diversity: The Creative Habits ~10K People (ArXiv)
- The Other (Bigger) Privacy Problem (Boston Globe)
- Predicting pollination network invasions (Nature)
- Surprisingly simple organization of ecosystems (PLOS)
- 25 Years of Creativity Research (J. Creativity Research)
- Network structure of Chilean rocky shores (Ecology)
- Approaching a state shift in Earth’s biosphere (Nature)
- Causal inference with observational data (Nature)
- Predicting rare amphibian habitat in Yosemite (PLOS)
- Simple predictions in complex food webs (PNAS)
- Keystone effects in complex networks (Ecology Letters)
- 2 degrees of separation in complex food webs (PNAS)
- Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100 (Science)
- Strong effects of weak interactions (Nature)
- more…
Featured Projects
- Climate Co-Investor Tracker
- Climate Finance Tracker (2 min overview)
- #ClimateEquity (with artist Benjamin VonWong)
- Ending STEM teacher shortages with network mapping
- 100 years of Science Fiction
- 25 years of Creativity Research
- 20 years of Ecological Synthesis
- 10 years of TED talks
- Network analysis of the Personal Data Economy (2012…)
- Dead Stuff: the secrete ingredient of food webs (TEDEd)
- Feedback Loops in Nature (TEDEd)
- Pollination Networks (TEDEd)
- Dogsled-accessed skiing in the Arctic
- more…
“Swall Institute”
“Swall Institute” is what I affectionately call our home one hour south of Yosemite National Park which overlooks the deepest valley in North America. At Swall, I host intimate groups of friends and colleagues to facilitate creative work. At Swall, Sean Gourley and I drafted our 2013 TED talk, and Alex MacDonald finished a book about the economic history of space exploration. Artists at Swall have included acclaimed photojournalist, Kiana Hayeri, mural artist, Jane Kim, mushroom burial suit inventor Jae Rhim Lee, and artist-activist Sarah Sandman (also a creator of the podcast Meditative Story). Meklit Hadero wrote part of her “We Are Alive” album at Swall, and Patrick Cress composed his Yosemite Soundscapes album. Tap Dancer Andrew Nemr worked on a book about the preservation of vernacular dance, and Jelani Cobb wrote columns for the New Yorker.
Dr. Eric L. Berlow is a “Data Ecologist” who specializes in not specializing. Academically trained in ecology and complexity science, and professionally trained in ‘big data’, he is currently the CEO of Vibrant Data Labs – a social impact data science company building open-source tools to empower a growing ecosystem of partners that are tackling the climate crisis.
Eric previously co-founded a visual data interface company which was acquired by Rakuten; and was the founding director of the University of California’s first science institute in Yosemite National Park. There he co-led efforts to leverage data and computation for evidence-based ecological conservation.
Eric received a B.A. in Biology from Brown University and a PhD in Community Ecology from Oregon State University. His research on ecological complexity – which includes publications in Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – has been recognized among the top 1% most highly cited papers in the field.
Eric is currently an Emerson Collective Climate Fellow. Previously he has been a TED Fellow and TED Senior Fellow, an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, a National Science Foundation Fellow, and a GE Architects of Innovation Fellow. He was listed among the “Top 100 Creatives” by Origin Magazine and was named an “Agent of Impact” by ImpactAlpha for his work tracking private climate finance.
A recurring theme in Eric’s work is to find simplicity that lies on the other side of complexity.
Dr. Eric L. Berlow is a “Data Ecologist” who specializes in not specializing. Academically trained in ecology and complexity science, and professionally trained in ‘big data’, he is currently the CEO of Vibrant Data Labs – a social impact data science company building open-source tools to empower a growing ecosystem of partners that are tackling the climate crisis.
Eric previously co-founded a visual data interface company which was acquired by Rakuten; and was the founding director of the University of California’s first science institute in Yosemite National Park. There he co-led efforts to leverage data and computation for evidence-based ecological conservation.
Eric received a B.A. in Biology from Brown University and a PhD in Community Ecology from Oregon State University. His research on ecological complexity – which includes publications in Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – has been recognized among the top 1% most highly cited papers in the field.
Eric is currently an Emerson Collective Climate Fellow. Previously he has been a TED Fellow and TED Senior Fellow, an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, a National Science Foundation Fellow, and a GE Architects of Innovation Fellow. He was listed among the “Top 100 Creatives” by Origin Magazine and was named an “Agent of Impact” by ImpactAlpha for his work tracking private climate finance.
A recurring theme in Eric’s work is to find simplicity that lies on the other side of complexity.