Building "AI of and for Nature" to understand and protect life from the molecular to the ecosystem level

Dr. Richard Dinnage is a leading expert at the intersection of organismal biology, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary theory. As the founder of the Dinnage Lab, his research focuses on creating "AI of and for Nature"—developing AI systems that are inspired by and trained to understand living systems to help preserve them.

Rather than simply applying existing AI, Richard's work is groundbreaking because he creates new approaches that integrate biological principles, such as phylogenetic relationships and ecological constraints, into the fundamental design of AI models. This visionary approach has led to the development of foundation models for organismal biology, including NicheFlow, one of the first foundation models for ecology.

His research extends to High-Throughput Phenomics, where he develops AI frameworks for analyzing vast biological image datasets, and to Evolution in High Dimensions, using AI systems as model organisms to understand evolutionary processes. This interdisciplinary work is instrumental in addressing the complex challenges of global change by providing sophisticated computational tools with deep biological insight. Dr. Dinnage's research has been published in leading journals such as Nature and Ecology, solidifying his position as a key voice in the future of AI and biological sciences.