How do species adapt to changing environments? How does genetic variation map onto phenotypic variation, and ultimately fitness? We address these questions with a mix of theoretical (modelling) and experimental approaches. We use the beetle Tribolium castaneum to run replicated experiments of evolution in the lab where populations adapt to heat and drought stress. With models we seek to understand how constraints in the genotype-phenotype map affect the variability and evolvability of polygenic traits.

We also 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 processes (selection, gene flow), life history traits (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.

Most of our modelling is performed with Nemo and Nemo-age, a forward-in-time individual based simulation software that we develop in the lab.

Contact us if you are interested in our research. We are looking for modellers, evolutionary biologists, coding enthusiasts to complement our team. Come join us!