Senior Data Scientist
Dario works on a range of projects aimed at modelling species distribution, understanding the effects of recent climate change, predicting the effects of climate change on bird populations, assessing bird population trends and producing biodiversity indicators.
Dario's research interests mainly focus on the analysis of large datasets to answer questions relevant to wildlife conservation. He is particularly interested in studying the effects of climate change and predicting its long-term consequences on bird populations. Dario is also interested in understanding the effects of climate change on bird phenology. He is responsible for developing and running software for the assessment of species population trends from Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (WBBS) data, and for the production of the Wild Bird Population Indicators.
Jan 2004 – PhD Natural and Environmental Sciences ‘Assessment of forest quality in the province of Bergamo using bioindicators’ (University of Milano)
Mar 2000 - MSc Environmental Sciences (University of Milano-Bicocca)
Recent BTO Publications
- Heywood, J.J.N., Massimino, D., Baker, L., Balmer, D.E., Brighton, C.H., Gillings, S., Kelly, L., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., White, D.M., Woodcock, P., Workman, E. & Wotton, S. 2025. The Breeding Bird Survey 2024. BTO Research Report 787
- Pigot, A.L., Dee, L., Richardson, A.J., Cooper, D., Eisenhauer, N., Gregory, R.D., Lewis, S., Macgregor, C.J., Massimino, D., Maynard, D., Phillips, H.R.P., Rillo, M., Loreau, M. & Haegeman, B. 2025. Macroecological rules predict how biomass scales with species richness in nature. Science 387: 1272-1276 doi:10.1126/science.adq3278
- Brighton, C.H., Gillings, S. & Massimino, D. 2025. Efficacy of methods for producing population trends of breeding waders from Breeding Bird Survey data. BTO Research Report 790:
- Tirozzi, P., Massimino, D. & Bani, L. 2024. Avian responses to climate extremes: insights into abundance curves and species sensitivity using the UK Breeding Bird Survey. Oecologia 204: 241-255 doi:10.1007/s00442-023-05504-9
- Massimino, D., Baillie, S.R., Balmer, D.E., Bashford, R.I., Gregory, R.D., Harris, S.J., Heywood, J.J.N., Kelly, L.A., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Raven, M.J., Risely, K., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S.R. & Gillings, S. 2024. The Breeding Bird Survey of the United Kingdom. Global Ecology and Biogeography 34: doi:10.1111/geb.13943
- Massimino, D., Woodward, I.D., Barber, L., Barimore, C., Harris, S.J., Leech, D.I., Noble, D.G., Walker, R.H., Baillie, S.R. & Robinson, R.A. 2024. BirdTrends 2023.
- Brighton, C.H., Massimino, D., Boersch-Supan, P., Barnes, A.E., Martay, B., Bowler, D.E., Hoskins, H.M.J. & Pearce-Higgins, J.W. 2024. The benefits of protected areas for bird population trends may depend on their condition. Biological Conservation 292: doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110553
- Heywood, J.J.N., Massimino, D., Balmer, D.E., Kelly, L., Marion, S., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., White, D.M., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S. and Gillings, S. 2024. The Breeding Bird Survey 2023.
- Finch, T., Bradbury, R.B., Bradfer-Lawrence, T., Buchanan, G.M., Copping, J.P., Massimino, D., Smith, P., Peach, W.J. & Field, R.H. 2023. Spatially targeted nature-based solutions can mitigate climate change and nature loss but require a systems approach. One Earth 6: 1350-1374 doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2023.09.005
- Massimino, D., Woodward, I.D., Barber, L., Barimore, C., Harris, S.J., Leech, D.I., Noble, D.G., Walker, R.H., Baillie, S.R. & Robinson, R.A. 2023. BirdTrends 2022.