Dinnage Lab

Beetle latent space animation

Biological | Computational | Eco-Evolutionary Systems

Welcome to the Dinnage Lab at Florida International University, where we develop foundation models for understanding complex biological systems. Our research sits at the intersection of organismal biology, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary theory.

Research Vision - AI of and for Nature

The complexity of environmental systems demands new computational approaches that can capture both their intricacy and their underlying structure. Our research program develops foundation models for organismal biology - artificial intelligence systems that learn from and help us understand living systems at scales from molecules to ecosystems. We want to develop models inspired by and trained to understand Nature, and that can be used to help protect and preserve Nature for future generations - AI of and for Nature.

This work comes at a critical moment when understanding and predicting biological responses to global change requires both sophisticated computation and deep biological insight. Rather than simply applying existing AI tools, we create new approaches that integrate biological principles - like phylogenetic relationships and ecological constraints - into their fundamental design.

Current Research Directions

Our lab pursues three interconnected research directions:

  • Foundation Models for Biological Understanding - Developing systems like NicheFlow, one of the first true foundation models for ecology
  • High-Throughput Phenomics - Creating AI frameworks for analyzing biological imagery across massive datasets
  • Evolution in High Dimensions - Investigating how AI systems themselves can serve as model organisms for understanding evolutionary processes

Learn more about our research program →

Recent News

  • February 2025: New paper on generative AI and bird bill morphology accepted for publication in PLOS Computational Biology!
  • January 2025: Dr. Dinnage appointed as Associate Editor at Methods in Ecology and Evolution
  • October 2024: 2 new preprints posted describing projects that use AI to solve important problems in ecology! One the result of a major collaboration with Phenobase: . The other, a solo venture and the first output of my foundation model NSF grant: .
  • January 2024: NSF grant awarded for developing foundation models for Species Distribution Modelling