index.qmd

---
title: "Maxime Dahirel"
subtitle: "**(they/he)**"
format:
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about:
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 image: images/avatar.jpg
 image-alt: Selfie of a person with glasses and shoulder-length wavy black hair, wearing a white scarf
 image-shape: round
 links:
   - text: "{{< fa brands bluesky size=2x >}} Bluesky"
     href: https://bsky.app/profile/mdahirel.bsky.social
   - text: "{{< fa brands mastodon size=2x >}} Mastodon"
     href: https://mastodon.social/@mdahirel
     rel: me
   - text: "{{< fa brands github size=2x >}} Github"
     href: https://github.com/mdahirel
   - text: "{{< ai inaturalist size=2x >}} iNaturalist"
     href: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/msjdahirel
   - text: "{{< ai orcid size=2x >}} ORCID"
     href: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8077-7765
---

# Hi!

I am a quantitative ecologist, with expertise in:

-   [**urban biodiversity, ecology and evolution**](urban-ecology.qmd)\
-   [**dispersal ecology**](dispersal.qmd), and behavioural ecology more generally

I work using a mix of data science tools, lab experiments, field surveys and the occasional simulation.

Most of my work is on [land snails](snails.qmd) 🐌, but I am or have been involved in projects studying plants 🍀, [spiders](spiders.qmd) 🕸️🕷️, mites, insects 🪰... and snail parasites.

I am currently working on dune ecology-related questions ([DuneFront project](https://dunefront.eu/)), in the [Terrestrial Ecology Unit](https://www.ecology.ugent.be/terec/) \@ Ghent University, in Belgium.

::: column-page
![](images/garden_snails_on_brick.jpg){fig-alt="A bunch of brown garden snails, with tiny stickers glued to their shells to individually identify them, on red bricks."}
:::