Dr Madeleine Ostwald

Lecturer

School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Queen Mary University of London

m.ostwald@qmul.ac.uk

Centre for Biodiversity and Sustainability

Research

behavioural ecology, thermal physiology, functional ecology, pollinator biodiversity, climate change

Interests

I am a behavioural and physiological ecologist interested in understanding how climate shapes insect ecology and biodiversity. I work with wild bees, a functionally rich and ecologically important clade representing 20,000 species and occupying all major terrestrial ecosystems. My research combines experimental physiology, field ecology, computer vision (AI) approaches, and specimen-based research to understand how past, present, and future climates support functionally diverse bee communities.

News

December 2025

Dr. Nicolás Hernández awarded LMS Grant to establish a UK Functional Data Analysis group

3 December 2025

Dr. Nicolás Hernández, Lecturer in Statistics at our Centre, has been awarded a Scheme 3 grant by the London Mathematical Society. The grant will support the creation of a new Joint Research Group focused on "Statistical Modelling and Inference for Functional Data Analysis". Functional Data Analysis is a rapidly ... [more]

Two-day workshop in "Geometric Methods in Probability"

3 December 2025

Our centre members Dr. Amaranta Membrillo Solis and Prof. John Moriarty are co-organising a two-day workshop in the School of Mathematical Sciences on the 12th and 13th January, titled "Geometric Methods in Probability". The first event on Monday 12th January will consist of a London Probability Day (LPD), an one-day ... [more]

Two-day workshop in "Geometric Methods in Probability"

QMUL Scientists Uncover Shape-Proof Pathway to Exotic Electrical Behaviour

2 December 2025

Researchers at the Centre for Electronics at Queen Mary University of London have reported a fresh theoretical result that settles a long-standing question in materials physics. Their new study shows that a key set of calculations used to test whether a crystal could exhibit negative static electric susceptibility remains stable ... [more]

Adrian Baule wins EPSRC funding to investigate theoretical foundations of AI media generators

2 December 2025

The UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Council (EPSRC) has awarded an £84,036 research grant for exploring Metastability in generative diffusion models to Adrian Baule, Reader in Applied Mathematics in the Centre for Complex Systems. The project will target the foundations of AI image, audio, and video generators such as DALL-E, Stable ... [more]

Adrian Baule wins EPSRC funding to investigate theoretical foundations of AI media generators

November 2025

Meet one of our PhD students: Daniel Gill

30 November 2025

To celebrate Disabilty History Month we introduce one of our PhD students: Daniel Gill. "I am a PhD Student primarily based in the Cognitive Science Research Group within the School of Electronical Engineering and Computer Science, though I am also associated with the Centre for Brain and Behaviour. My own ... [more]

Meet one of our PhD students: Daniel Gill

Queen Mary launches world's first masters degree in organ-on-a-chip technology

26 November 2025

Queen Mary is proud to launch a new specialist bioengineering programme, MSc Organ-on-a-Chip Technologies, now open for September 2026 applications. Delivered within the renowned Centre for Predictive In Vitro Models, the course provides advanced training in next-generation organ-on-a-chip, tissue engineering and in vitro technologies. Following the Government's recently announced strategy to ... [more]

Queen Mary launches world's first masters degree in organ-on-a-chip technology

Meet the PhD graduates of our Centre

26 November 2025

Our Centre currently hosts a vibrant community of young researchers with 23 PhD students working under the supervision of the Centre's academics. But what career paths do our PhD students follow after graduation? In this page, you can find information about our recent PhD graduates, including the topic of their theses, ... [more]

Queen Mary team qualify an organ-chip model of breast cancer metastasis using a multi-omics approach

24 November 2025

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed and rigorously qualified a new organ-on-a-chip model that replicates the early stages of breast cancer bone metastasis, offering a promising alternative to animal studies. The microfluidic system brings together osteocytes, osteoclasts and breast cancer cells in a dynamic tri-culture, but its ... [more]

Queen Mary team qualify an organ-chip model of breast cancer metastasis using a multi-omics approach

Musician Will Young visits Queen Mary to explore alternatives to Animal Testing

19 November 2025

A group of high-profile guests visited Queen Mary's Centre for Predictive In Vitro Models on Tuesday 11th November, to explore the university's cutting-edge organ-on-a-chip facilities. The delegation included musician and animal advocate Will Young, a Director and Toxicologist from Lush cosmetics, and representatives from the charity Animal Aid. The group ... [more]

Musician Will Young visits Queen Mary to explore alternatives to Animal Testing

Biagio Lucini gives the Higgs Compositeness update talk at Lattice 2025

18 November 2025

Many congratulations to Biagio Lucini, who has given the Higgs Compositeness update talk at Lattice 2025. The 42nd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2025) is an annual conference that brings together scientists from around the world who specialise in the numerical evaluation of quantum field theories. This year it was ... [more]

Biagio Lucini gives the Higgs Compositeness update talk at Lattice 2025

Workshop on Aperiodic Order at MFO (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach)

18 November 2025

Together with colleagues from the US and Germany, Reem Yassawi, senior lecturer in the Centre for Complex Systems, has applied successfully to host a workshop at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach (MFO, Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics). MFO workshops are prestigious gatherings of small groups of invited experts, who spend a ... [more]

Workshop on Aperiodic Order at MFO (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach)

CMAI at NeurIPS 2025

17 November 2025

On 2-7 December, several CMAI researchers will participate at the 39th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2025), taking place in San Diego. NeurIPS is a prestigious annual academic conference and non-profit foundation that fosters the exchange of research in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and computational neuroscience. ... [more]

Global Partnership Targets Safer, Cleaner and More Resilient Offshore Aquaculture

17 November 2025

We have launched a major international research initiative to strengthen the safety, resilience, and sustainability of offshore aquaculture, backed by a £998,330 grant from Lloyd's Register Foundation and under the leadership of Dr Avital. As demand for seafood rises globally, offshore fish farming is increasingly seen as a vital solution, yet ... [more]

Global Partnership Targets Safer, Cleaner and More Resilient Offshore Aquaculture

QMUL Researchers Win Top International Award for Breakthrough in Antenna Measurement Technology

14 November 2025

We're proud to share that researchers from the Antenna and Electromagnetics Group at QMUL have received a major international honour. Dr. Rostyslav Dubrovka and Prof. Stuart Gregson, working with Dr.-Ing. Marc Dirix from RWTH Aachen University, earned first place in the 2025 Best Technical Paper competition at the 47th Annual ... [more]

QMUL Researchers Win Top International Award for Breakthrough in Antenna Measurement Technology

New Study Reveals Hidden Diversity in How Bacteria Respond to Antibiotics

12 November 2025

Researchers at the Centre for Molecular Cell Biology and Experimental and Applied Physics together with colleagues at the University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London have uncovered a new mechanism that helps bacteria survive antibiotic treatment. Published in Nature Communications, their research shows that RNA repair in E. coli not ... [more]

Queen Mary Bioengineers provides expert comment on new Government strategy

12 November 2025

Bioengineers at Queen Mary University of London, have provided expert comment to the BBC about the new alternatives strategy launched today (11 November) by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Watch Queen Mary experts speak to the BBC about the Government's new alternatives strategy on 11 November from 6.10am. This new ... [more]

Queen Mary Bioengineers provides expert comment on new Government strategy

PhD student Yu Hu passes her PhD on organ-chip models of cardiovascular disease

10 November 2025

Many congratulations to Yu Hu who passed her PhD viva. During her PhD, Yu developed an organ-on-a-chip model of the human coronary artery incorporating endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and circulating immune cells. The organ-chips were subjected to pulsatile dilation and fluid shear stress causing cellular reorganisation as seen in ... [more]

PhD student Yu Hu passes her PhD on organ-chip models of cardiovascular disease

Research work in the Centre for Brain and Behaviour explores the pathways from neurodivergent traits to mental health outcomes.

9 November 2025

To mark UK Disability History Month, which runs from November 20 to December 20, we showcase the research of Giorgia Michelini, a senior lecturer in the Centre for Brain and Behaviour. Dr Michelini leads research on the lived experience of neurodivergent adolescents and young adults from diverse ethnic backgrounds, in collaboration with ... [more]

Research work in the Centre for Brain and Behaviour explores the pathways from neurodivergent traits to mental health outcomes.

First Simons Collaboration event at QMUL on Initial Data issues in Numerical Relativity

8 November 2025

In November the workshop "Initial Data in NR" was held in School of Mathematical Sciences. This was the first event of the new Simon's Collaboration for Black Holes and Strong Gravity to be held at QMUL, kicking off our participation in this exciting new international network. Researchers from Nottingham, Cambridge, ... [more]

First Simons Collaboration event at QMUL on Initial Data issues in Numerical Relativity

Queen Mary Joins AI-RAN Alliance to Drive Innovation in AI-Enabled Wireless Networks

6 November 2025

The School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) is proud to announce its membership in the AI-RAN Alliance, marking a significant step forward in advancing research and innovation in AI-driven communication systems. This collaboration bridges the gap between academic research and industrial ... [more]