- Department
- Email Address
- [email protected]
- Research Areas
- Research Keywords
- Research Description
My research integrates plant phylogenomics, systematics, evolutionary ecology, and conservation genomics to reveal how plant diversity originates, evolves, and adapts. I investigate diversification in species-rich lineages through global phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses and population genomics, with emphasis on Fabaceae and Solanaceae crops and wild relatives. informing applied plant study.
- Research Summary
I build phylogenies to clarify taxonomy and biodiversity of key plant groups, focusing on tomato (Solanaceae) and legume (Fabaceae). I use these trees to study how lineages diversified and responded to environmental change, providing evolutionary context for global biodiversity and biome assembly. I study trait evolution to see how ecological pressures shape morphological and genomic features—like genome size, underground organs, and fruit—and how traits affect adaptation. I apply population genomics to wild species to test species boundaries and assess genetic variation, disease-resistance gene diversity, and historical genomic change from modern and herbarium samples. Together, these approaches link evolutionary history, trait diversity, and genomic processes to inform conservation.
- Techniques Used
Comparative phylogenetics; bioinformatics; natural history collections (herbaria); botanical surveys; bioinformatics; phylogenomics; multivariate statistical analyses; whole genome and reduced-representation sequencing approaches (e.g. Radseq, Genotype-by-sequencing, low-coverage genome sequencing);
- Locations of international collaborators
Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (UK); Federal University of Pernambuco, Federal University of Paraiba (Brazil); Technical University of Munich, Christian-Albretch University of Kiel (Germany);
- Links
