Research interests

The questions we address in my lab stand at the interface between ecology and evolution. On the evolutionary side, we ask how genetic variation maps onto phenotypic variation, and ultimately fitness, a central goal of evolutionary biology. In particular, we ask how the structure of the genotype-phenotype map of quantitative traits affects the evolutionary capacity of a species, for instance investigating the effects of gene pleiotropy (the capacity of a gene to affect multiple traits) on adaptive constraints. To address these questions, we use a mix of computational and analytical modelling, and experimental evolution in the lab with the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum.
On the ecological side, we use modeling jointly with empirical data on extant species to understand how eco-evolutionary dynamics affect species’ adaptation to shifting environments under climate change. Our modelling approach aims at identifying the key evolutionary (genetic variation, gene flow, plasticity), life history (age/stage-structure, dispersal, mating system) and ecological characteristics (niche breadth, density, species’ interactions) enabling species to persist in rapidly changing environments. Modeling species’ eco-evolutionary responses to climate change is important when projecting the change of species’ ranges in future climates because it integrates ecological and evolutionary processes affecting species' persistence.