Dr Athen Ma
Senior Lecturer
School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Complex networks, Network science, Machine learning and ecology, Ecological networks, Ecosystem responses, Global environmental change
Interests
My research transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries and develops innovative analytics to examine the structure and dynamics of ecosystems across different domains. I have developed novel analytics that revealed the assembly principles which underpin the organisation of collaborative science in the UK over the past three decades (featured in PNAS issue highlight and commentary, Physics World and Phys.org). My experience in profiling large-scale networks enables me to perform robust analysis and modelling, tailored to undertaking important questions in ecology. I have a strong interest on the community organisation in ecological systems, and have developed multi-disciplinary techniques that uncovered how components of ecological networks rewired under drought (formed the front cover of Nature Climate Change) and how community structures in streams across the UK recovered from acidification. My publication in Nature Ecology and Evolution has revealed that agricultural ecosystems from farm sites across the UK are remarkably resilient to genetically modified, herbicide tolerant management. My multi-disciplinary approach to better understand networked ecosystems has been recognised as key to ecoinformatics and ecological big data research as it provides a platform to explore complex ecological systems and interlink the services (e.g. production of food) they bring.For latest news, visit https://sites.google.com/view/athenma/home
Publications
2021
Interdisciplinary researchers attain better long-term funding performanceSun Y, Livan G, Ma A and Latora V
Communications Physics, Springer Nature vol. 4 (1)
10-12-2021
Ecological plasticity governs ecosystem services in multilayer networksGRAY C, Ma A, McLaughlin O, Petit S, Woodward G and Bohan D
Communications Biology, Nature Research (Part of Springer Nature)
18-01-2021
2018
Ecological networks reveal resilience of agro-ecosystems to changes in farming managementMa A
Nature Ecology and Evolution, Nature Research
31-12-2018
A Replicated Network Approach to ‘Big Data’ in EcologyMa A, Bohan DA, Canard E, Derocles SAP, Gray C, Lu X, Macfadyen S, Romero GQ and Kratina P
Advances in Ecological Research
20-06-2018
2017
Area-corrected species richness patterns of vascular plants along a tropical elevational gradientXu X, Zhang H-Y, Luo J, Zhang D-J and Ma A
Journal of Mountain Science, Springer Nature vol. 14 (4), 694-704.
30-03-2017
Altitudinal patterns of plant species richness in the Honghe region of ChinaXu X, Zhang H, Zhang D, Tian W, Huang H and Ma A
Pakistan Journal of Botany vol. 49 (3), 1039-1048.
01-01-2017
2016
Weighting and indirect effects identify keystone species in food websZhao L, Zhang H, O'Gorman EJ, Tian W, Ma A, Moore JC, Borrett SR and Woodward G
Ecology Letters, Wiley vol. 19 (9), 1032-1040.
27-06-2016
Drought rewires the cores of food websLu X, Gray C, Brown LE, Ledger ME, Milner AM, Mondragón RJ, Woodward G and Ma A
Nature Climate Change, Nature Publishing Group vol. 6, 875-878.
09-05-2016
Networking Our Way to Better Ecosystem Service ProvisionConsortium TQ
Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Elsevier vol. 31 (2), 105-115.
09-01-2016
Chapter Ten - Recovery and Nonrecovery of Freshwater Food Webs from the Effects of AcidificationGray C, Hildrew AG, Lu X, Ma A, McElroy D, Monteith D, O Gorman E, Shilland E and Woodward G
In Advances in Ecological Research Large-Scale Ecology: Model Systems to Global Perspectives, Academic Press 475-534. Editors: Alex JD.
01-01-2016
2015
Joining the dots: An automated method for constructing food webs from compendia of published interactionsGray C, Figueroa DH, Hudson LN, Ma A, Perkins D and Woodward G
Food Webs, Elsevier vol. 5, 11-20.
01-12-2015
Anatomy of funded research in scienceMa A, Mondragón RJ and Latora V
Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences vol. 112 (48), 14760-14765.
26-10-2015
Using a Smart City IoT to Incentivise and Target Shifts in Mobility Behaviour—Is It a Piece of Pie?Poslad S, Ma A, Wang Z and Mei H
Sensors, Mdpi vol. 15 (6), 13069-13096.
04-06-2015
10 years later: Revisiting priorities for science and society a decade after the Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentMulder C, Bennett EM, Bohan DA, Bonkowski M, Carpenter SR, Chalmers R, Cramer W, Durance I, Eisenhauer N, Fontaine C, Haughton AJ, Hettelingh JP, Hines J, Ibanez S, Jeppesen E, Krumins JA, Ma A, Mancinelli G, Massol F, McLaughlin Ó, et al.
In Advances in Ecological Research 1-53.
01-01-2015
Chapter One 10 Years Later Revisiting Priorities for Science and Society a Decade After the Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentMulder C, Bennett EM, Bohan DA, Bonkowski M, Carpenter SR, Chalmers R, Cramer W, Durance I, Eisenhauer N, Fontaine C, Haughton AJ, Hettelingh J-P, Hines J, Ibanez S, Jeppesen E, Krumins JA, Ma A, Mancinelli G, Massol F, McLaughlin Ó, et al.
In Ecosystem Services - From Biodiversity to Society, Part 1, Elsevier 1-53.
01-01-2015
2014
FORUM: Ecological networks: the missing links in biomonitoring scienceGray C, Baird DJ, Baumgartner S, Jacob U, Jenkins GB, O'Gorman EJ, Lu X, Ma A, Pocock MJO, Schuwirth N, Thompson M and Woodward G
Journal of Applied Ecology, Wiley vol. 51 (5), 1444-1449.
28-07-2014
2013
Short Term Traffic Volume Prediction for Sustainable Transportation in Urban AreaMei H, Ma A, Poslad S and Oshin TO
Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers
19-04-2013
Social Achievement and Centrality in MathOverflowMontoya LV, Ma A and Mondragon RJ
Complex Networks Iv, Springer vol. 276 (2013), 27-38.
01-01-2013
2012
Evaluation of network robustness using a node tearing algorithmMa A and Mondragón RJ
Physica a: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications, Elsevier Bv vol. 391 (24), 6674-6681.
01-12-2012
Improving the Energy-Efficiency of GPS based Location Sensing Smartphone ApplicationsMa A, Poslad S and Oshin TO
2012 IEEE 11th International Conference on Trust, Security and Privacy in Computing and Communications (TrustCom) Liverpool, UK 25 Jun 2012 - 27 Jun 2012., 1698-1705.
01-01-2012
Beyond Centrality - Finding vulnerabilities in complex networksMa A and Mondragon RJ
NetSci Evanston, Il, USA 18 Jun 2012 - 22 Jun 2012.
01-01-2012
A Method to Evaluate the Energy-Efficiency of Wide-Area Location Determination Techniques Used by SmartphonesOshin TO, Poslad S and Ma A
2012 IEEE 15th International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Nicosia, Cyprus 5 Dec 2012 - 7 Dec 2012., 326-333.
01-01-2012
2011
Efficient big brother networksPinto FC, Videira A, Ma A and Cuthbert L
IEEE EUROCOM Lisbon, Portugal 27 Apr 2011 - 29 Apr 2011.
01-01-2011
2010
Bluetooth Indoor Positioning using RSSI and Least Square
EstimationWang Y, Shi S, Yang X and Ma A
International Conference on Future Computer and Communication Shanghai, China 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2010
K-Means Based Clustering on Mobile Usage for Social Network Analysis PurposeYang X, Wu D, Wang Y and Ma A
Advanced Information Management and Service (IMS), 2010 6th International Conference on Seoul, Korea 30 Nov 2010 - 2 Dec 2010., 223-228.
01-01-2010
2009
Application of the generalised ballot theorem for evaluation of performance in packet buffers with non-first in first out schedulingAriffin SHS, Schormans JA and Ma AHI
Iet Commun vol. 3 (6), 933-944.
01-06-2009
Using Co-presence Communities to Enhance Social RecommendationTokarchuk L, Shoop K and Ma A
WONS 2009: SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WIRELESS ON-DEMAND NETWORK SYSTEMS AND SERVICES., 157-160.
01-01-2009
A Simulation Package for Hot-spot Traffic Relief in WCDMA NetworksWang Y, Yang X, Lu N, Ma A and Cuthbert L
Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing, 2009. WiCom '09. 5th International Conference on Beijing 1 Jan 1970., 802-806.
01-01-2009
Blue Danger: Live action gaming over BluetoothWang L, De Vial E, Tokarchuk L, Wang Y and Ma A
2009 6TH IEEE CONSUMER COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING CONFERENCE, VOLS 1 AND 2., 1287-1291.
01-01-2009
Intelligent Resource Optimisation Using Semi-Smart Antennas in LTE OFDMA SystemsWang Y, Yang X, Ma A and Cuthbert LG
Communications Technology and Applications, 2009. ICCTA '09. IEEE International Conference on Beijing, China 1 Jan 1970., 173-179.
01-01-2009
Digging Friendship: Paper Recommendation in Social NetworksDONG R, TOKARCHUK LN and MA A
Proceedings of Networking & Electronic Commerce Research Conference Lake Garda, Italy 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2009
2008
Anomalous Usage in Web ApplicationsChew B, Wang J, Ma A and Bigham J
NAEC Lake Garda, Italy 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2008
2006
Cooperative control of WCDMA system under geographically congested situationsWang Y, Wu J, Bigham J, Ma A and Cuthbert L
Proceedings of the Fifth IASTED International Conference on Communications, Internet, and Information Technology, CIIT 2006., 295-299.
01-12-2006
An Agent-based Passenger Support System over Heterogeneous Wireless Infrastructures in an Airport EnvironmentWang Y, Ma A and Cuthbert L
IASTED International Conference on Networks and Communication Systems (NCS) Chiang Mai, Thailand 29 Mar 2006 - 31 Mar 2006.
01-01-2006
Agent Based Cooperation Control over Wireless LAN networks with Semi-Smart Antennas’, IASTED Int’l Conference on Networks and Communication Systems (NCS)Wang Y, Ma A and Cuthbert L
IASTED Int’l Conference on Networks and Communication Systems (NCS) Chiang Mai, Thailand 29 Mar 2006 - 31 Mar 2006.
01-01-2006
A Multi-agent Based Intelligent Wireless Passenger Support systemWang Y, Ma A, Cuthbert L and Shoop K
Networking and Electronic Commerce Research Conference (NAEC) Lake Garda, Italy 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2006
IEEE 802.11 WLAN load balancing using adaptive antennas and cooperative controlsWang Y, Ma A and Cuthbert L
IET International Conference on Wireless Mobile and Multimedia Networks Proceedings (ICWMMN 2006) Hanzhou, China 1 Jan 1970. (CP525)
01-01-2006
Cooperative control of WCDMA system under geographically congested situationsWang Y, Ma A, Wu J, Bigham B and Cuthbert L
4th IASTED Int’l Conference on Communications, Internet, and Information Technology (CIIT) Virgin Islands, USA 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2006
2005
Fast, stable simulation of power-law packet traffic using concatenated acceleration techniquesMa AHI and Schormans JA
Iee P-Commun vol. 152 (4), 420-426.
01-08-2005
2004
An agent-based system for supporting enhanced services over wireless infrastructuresKoutsouris N, Mitrou N, Wang Y and Ma A
CCCT'04 Austin, Texas, USA 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2004
2003
Aggregation technique for networks with power law traffic and application to accelerated simulationMa A, Schormans J and Cuthbert L
Iee P-Commun vol. 150 (3), 177-183.
01-06-2003
2002
Measurement-based queue length distribution estimation for power-law trafficLeung CM, Schormans JA and Ma AHI
Electron Lett vol. 38 (24), 1608-1610.
21-11-2002
Hybrid technique for analysis of multiplexed power-law traffic in broadband networksMa AHI and Schormans JA
Electron Lett vol. 38 (6), 295-297.
14-03-2002
Accelerated simulation modelling of Power-law traffic via aggregationMa AHI and Schormans JA
ICT02 Beijing, China 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2002
Efficient simulation modelling for long range dependent trafficMa AHI and Schormans JA
RESIM’02 Madrid, Spain 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2002
2001
A fast simulation method for modelling IP networksMa AHI and Schormans JA
17th UKTS Dublin, Ireland 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2001
2000
Accurate results for traffic engineering in the presence of LRDSchormans JA, Pitts JM, Ma AHI and Mondragon R
16th UKTS Harlow, Essex UK 1 Jan 1970.
01-01-2000
Design rules and equivalent capacity for buffering of Pareto sourceMa AHI, Schormans JA, Pitts JM, Scharf EM, Pearmain AJ and Phillips CI
Elec Lett vol. 36 (15), 1274-1275.
01-01-2000
Grants
Grants of specific relevance to the Centre for Human-Centred ComputingPredicting the Impacts of Global Environmental Change on Ecological NetworksAthen Ma, Vito Latora and Pavel Kratina
£389,809 NERC Natural Environment Research Council
01-06-2024 - 31-05-2027