Sam Wenaas Perrin

About

Since May 2023 I've been working on the Hotspots project, which aims to map Norwegian biodiversity in an attempt to figure out which regions of Norway need to be prioritised for conservation. My work has involved the construction of automated data pipelines which download, process and then integrate a wide variety of data sets into species distribution models, as well as coordinating a team of interdisicplinary researchers and communicating our project results.

Before my time on the hotspots project, I completed my PhD on the joint effects of climate change and invasive species on freshwater ecosystems in Scandinavia. The project involved extensive statistical modelling, but also an eco-sociological exploration of what defines an invasive species, and how people feel invasive species should be managed, particularly in light of climate change. I've also been lucky enough to talk and teach about invasive species and biogeography in Master's courses and public events.

I am a keen scientific communicator, and founded and edited the website Ecology for the Masses. I have written a plethora of ecological articles for different publications, including The Niche, The Biologist, Kaiju Ramen and Unite for Nature. I also produced the podcast Biologists of Middle Earth, which interviewed biologists about fictional research projects based in Tolkein's world.

Between my stints at NTNU I also worked at Ducky AS, calculating and communicating how individuals can make a positive impact on Norway's greenhouse gas emissions. I'm also a member of Scientist Rebellion Norway.

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about:

Invasive species in Norway or Australia
Modelling species distributions using open data
Science communication
The biodiversity or climate crisis - what it means, what we can do

Publications

2025

Herfindal, Ivar; Perrin, Sam; Adjei, Kwaku Peprah; Mostert, Philip Stanley; Togunov, Ron Ronald; Töpper, Joachim Paul. (2025) Modellering av heildekkande kart over artsmangfald – Betre kunnskap for arealbasert forvaltning av natur. Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Gjærevollsenteret (2/2025)
Report
Mostert, Philip Stanley; Bjørkås, Ragnhild; Bruls, Angeline Josephine Hubert Mari; Koch, Wouter; Martin, Ellen Claire; Perrin, Sam. (2025) intSDM: An R Package for Building a Reproducible Workflow for the Field of Integrated Species Distribution Models. Ecology and Evolution
Academic article

2024

Perrin, Sam; Lundmark, Carina; Wenaas, Camilla Perrin; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2024) Contrasts in perception of the interaction between non-native species and climate change. NeoBiota
Academic article
Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Cline, Timothy J.; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt; Hessen, Dag Olav; Perrin, Sam; Thaulow, Jens. (2024) Climate change vulnerability of Arctic char across Scandinavia. Global Change Biology
Academic article

2023

Perrin, Sam; Veylit, Lara; Hakvåg, Sigrid; Piarulli, Stefania. (2023) eDNA & accuracy: overcoming the challenges. The Biologist
Popular scientific article

2021

Perrin, Sam; Veen, Bert van der; Golding, Nick; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2021) Modelling temperature-driven changes in species associations across freshwater communities. Global Change Biology
Academic article
Perrin, Sam; Bærum, Kim Magnus; Helland, Ingeborg Palm; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2021) Forecasting the future establishment of invasive alien freshwater fish species. Journal of Applied Ecology
Academic article

2020

Perrin, Sam Wenaas; Englund, Göran; Blumentrath, Stefan; OHara, Robert Brian; Amundsen, Per-Arne; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2020) Integrating dispersal along freshwater ecosystems into species distribution models. Diversity and Distributions: A Journal of Conservation Biogeography
Academic article

2019

Perrin, Sam. (2019) Futurum.
Museum exhibition

2017

Perrin, Sam; Zoysa, Rapti Siriwardane-de. (2017) Women in marine science: The efficacy of ecofeminist theory in the wake of historical critique. Leibniz Centre for Marine Research: Working Paper Series
Popular scientific article

Journal publications

Mostert, Philip Stanley; Bjørkås, Ragnhild; Bruls, Angeline Josephine Hubert Mari; Koch, Wouter; Martin, Ellen Claire; Perrin, Sam. (2025) intSDM: An R Package for Building a Reproducible Workflow for the Field of Integrated Species Distribution Models. Ecology and Evolution
Academic article
Perrin, Sam; Lundmark, Carina; Wenaas, Camilla Perrin; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2024) Contrasts in perception of the interaction between non-native species and climate change. NeoBiota
Academic article
Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Cline, Timothy J.; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt; Hessen, Dag Olav; Perrin, Sam; Thaulow, Jens. (2024) Climate change vulnerability of Arctic char across Scandinavia. Global Change Biology
Academic article
Perrin, Sam; Veylit, Lara; Hakvåg, Sigrid; Piarulli, Stefania. (2023) eDNA & accuracy: overcoming the challenges. The Biologist
Popular scientific article
Perrin, Sam; Veen, Bert van der; Golding, Nick; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2021) Modelling temperature-driven changes in species associations across freshwater communities. Global Change Biology
Academic article
Perrin, Sam; Bærum, Kim Magnus; Helland, Ingeborg Palm; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2021) Forecasting the future establishment of invasive alien freshwater fish species. Journal of Applied Ecology
Academic article
Perrin, Sam Wenaas; Englund, Göran; Blumentrath, Stefan; OHara, Robert Brian; Amundsen, Per-Arne; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2020) Integrating dispersal along freshwater ecosystems into species distribution models. Diversity and Distributions: A Journal of Conservation Biogeography
Academic article
Perrin, Sam; Zoysa, Rapti Siriwardane-de. (2017) Women in marine science: The efficacy of ecofeminist theory in the wake of historical critique. Leibniz Centre for Marine Research: Working Paper Series
Popular scientific article

Report

Herfindal, Ivar; Perrin, Sam; Adjei, Kwaku Peprah; Mostert, Philip Stanley; Togunov, Ron Ronald; Töpper, Joachim Paul. (2025) Modellering av heildekkande kart over artsmangfald – Betre kunnskap for arealbasert forvaltning av natur. Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Gjærevollsenteret (2/2025)
Report

UTSTILLING

Perrin, Sam. (2019) Futurum.
Museum exhibition

Outreach

2024

Academic lecture

Togunov, Ron Ronald; Perrin, Sam; Mostert, Philip Stanley; Moorter, Bram Van; Panzacchi, Manuela; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2024) Come together: Joining species distribution and connectivity models for improved mapping of functional habitat for Norwegian wood beetles. [Talk ID: 235]. ISEC International Statistical Ecology Conference , Swansea, Wales 2024-07-16 -
Academic lecture

Mostert, Philip Stanley; Adjei, Kwaku Peprah; Togunov, Ron Ronald; Perrin, Sam; Chipperfield, Joseph; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2024) Estimating hotspots using automated pipelines and large-scale integrated species distribution models. International Statistical Ecology Conference , Swansea 2024-07-12 - 2024-07-19
Academic lecture

Perrin, Sam. (2024) Digital twins of biodiversity; concepts, workflows and data. SBDI Days 2024: Towards Data-driven Ecology , Stocholm 2024-01-24 - 2024-01-25
Poster

Mostert, Philip Stanley; Koch, Wouter; Bruls, Angeline; Martin, Ellen Claire; Bjørkås, Ragnhild; Perrin, Sam. (2024) A Reproducible Workflow for the Field of Integrated Species Distribution Models. SBDI Days , Stockholm 2024-01-24 - 2024-01-25

2020

Interview

Brandslet, Steinar; Perrin, Sam. (2020) Hvorfor går det så galt i Australia?. https://gemini.no/2020/01/hvorfor-gikk-det-sa-galt-i-austral https://gemini.no/2020/01/hvorfor-gikk-det-sa-galt-i-austral [Internet] 2020-01-09
Academic lecture

Perrin, Sam Wenaas; Bærum, Kim Magnus; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2020) Forecasting Introduction Events of Invasive Freshwater Fish Species. Ecology in the Anthropocene: The 4th Conference of the Nordic Society Oikos , Reykjavik 2020-03-03 - 2020-03-05

2019

Interview

Perrin, Sam; Rahbek, Carsten. (2019) CARSTEN RAHBEK: THE ROLE OF A NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. https://ecologyforthemasses.com/2019/04/15/carsten-rahbek-th https://ecologyforthemasses.com/2019/04/15/carsten-rahbek-th [Internet] 2019-04-15
Academic lecture

Perrin, Sam; Golding, Nick; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2019) Modelling changes in species associations in a warming climate. 4th Conference of the Norwegian Ecological Society , Tromso 2019-02-11 - 2019-02-13
Poster

Helland, Ingeborg Palm; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt; Blumentrath, Stefan; Bærum, Kim Magnus; Perrin, Sam; Fossøy, Frode. (2019) Hvordan stoppe spredning av fremmed fisk?. Vannmiljøkonferansen , Oslo 2019-03-26 - 2019-03-28
Interview

Perrin, Sam; O'Hara, Bob. (2019) BOB O’HARA: THE RISE OF THE ECOLOGICAL MODELLER. https://ecologyforthemasses.com/2019/09/24/bob-ohara-the-ris https://ecologyforthemasses.com/2019/09/24/bob-ohara-the-ris [Internet] 2019-09-24
Interview

Perrin, Sam; Reid, Jane Margaret. (2019) JANE REID: PLAYING THE ECOLOGICAL LONG GAME. https://ecologyforthemasses.com/2019/10/17/jane-reid-playing https://ecologyforthemasses.com/2019/10/17/jane-reid-playing [Internet] 2019-10-17

2018

Lecture

Perrin, Sam; Blumentrath, Stefan; O'Hara, Robert B.; Englund, Göran; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt; Amundsen, Per-Arne. (2018) Predicting the effects of invasive species on fish at a community level in the face of climate change. Oikos , Trondheim 2018-02-20 - 2018-02-22
Lecture

Perrin, Sam; O'Hara, Robert B.; Amundsen, Per-Arne; Blumentrath, Stefan; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2018) Predicting the effects of invasive species on fish at a community level in the face of climate change. 9th International Charr Symposium , Duluth 2018-06-18 - 2018-06-21

2017

Poster

Perrin, Sam; O'Hara, Robert B.; Amundsen, Per-Arne; Blumentrath, Stefan; Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt. (2017) Predicting the effects of climate change on fish at a community level. Ecology Across Borders , Ghent 2017-12-11 - 2017-12-14

Språkvelger

Sam Wenaas Perrin