Reza Goljani

Dr. Reza Goljani Goljani is a quantitative ecologist in Exponent's Ecological and Biological Sciences practice. He applies statistical modeling, spatial analysis, GIS, and ecological data synthesis to evaluate species distributions, habitat relationships, biodiversity change, and environmental decision-making.

Dr. Goljani's works at the intersection of ecological field data, large environmental datasets, and quantitative modeling. He has developed and applied hierarchical species distribution and community models to understand how climate, land use, habitat structure, and survey design shape observed patterns of abundance, occupancy, and biodiversity. His experience includes modeling imperfect detection, integrating historical and contemporary datasets, and building reproducible workflows in R, GIS, and remote sensing environments.

Before joining Exponent, Dr. Goljani was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where his research supported conservation decision-making for California bird communities and alpine species. His projects included reconstructing historical baselines, evaluating range and habitat shifts, identifying species-habitat relationships across spatial scales, and developing decision-support tools for biodiversity monitoring and management.

At Exponent, Dr. Goljani brings a quantitative ecology perspective to ecological risk assessment, natural resource damage assessment, environmental impact analysis, restoration and monitoring, threatened and endangered species questions, and environmental data analytics. He helps project teams transform complex ecological and geospatial datasets into transparent, defensible analyses, maps, and decision-support products for ecological risk assessment, NRDA, environmental impact analysis, restoration planning, and regulatory decision-making.