Advisory Board and Editors Evolutionary Studies
David E.K. Ferrier
Reader in Biology and Director of the Scottish Oceans Institute, at the University of St Andrews.
The focus of our research is the connection between the content and organisation of genomes to the evolution of development (evo-devo). We utilize a variety of organisms in our research (including amphioxus, sea squirts, polychaetes and priapulids), chosen from key points in the phylogeny of the animals to enable reconstruction of the ancestral conditions at major nodes in the animal kingdom; the origin of bilaterians, protostomes, deuterostomes, chordates and vertebrates.
Antonio Flores-Moya
Full Professor (Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, Universidad de Málaga, Spain) from 2008. My PhD thesis (1993) was focused on deep-water like-kelp populations at the Strait of Gibraltar. Later, I focused on ecophysiology and taxonomy of seaweeds from southern Iberian Peninsula. In 2002, I started a new research line focused on experimental evolution of photosynthetic microorganisms. I have had stays in several institutions in France (Laboratoire Arago, Université Paris VI), Sweden (Upssala Universitet), England (Robert Hill Institute, University of Sheffield), Germany (Alfred Wegener Institute für Polar und Meeresforschung), Japan (Kobe University Research Center for Inland Seas) and Australia (Australian Institute for Marine Science), and two expeditions to Antarctica.
Dina M Fonseca
Professor in the department of Entomology at Rutgers University and also a member of the graduate programs in Ecology and Evolution and Microbiology and Biochemistry. I am primarily a molecular ecologist examining how populations of invasive species change upon arrival and expansion and, in the case of disease vectors, how they affect epidemiological landscapes and risk estimates. From 2008-2013 I was the lead PI at Rutgers on a cooperative agreement funded by USDA-ARS to develop and test Area-wide Integrated Mosquito Management strategies to control Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito. In July 2017 I became the Director of the Center for Vector Biology, a program that provides accreditation, continuing education and broadly supports the extended NJ Mosquito Control community. I have developed a strong extension program working with professional mosquito control programs using vector biology, ecology and evolution to develop effective and efficient strategies for control. I have also spearheaded urban mosquito control by residents through Citizen Action Through Science (Citizen AcTS): http://vectorbio.rutgers.edu/CitizenAcTS.htm. Founding member of the Worldwide Insecticide resistance Network (WIN): https://win-network.ird.fr/ and founding member of InSITe (Innovative Strategies for Invasives Team) using environmental DNA (eDNA) and risk analysis to detect and contain invasive species https://www.insiteru.org.
M. Pilar Francino
M. P. Francino studied Biology at the National University of Mexico and obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Rochester (New York), working on analyses of rates and patterns of DNA sequence evolution in bacteria and primates. She conducted postdoctoral research in bacterial genetics as an EMBO Fellow at the University of Paris. After that, she served as a Research Scientist at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) for five years, and was Head of the JGI Evolutionary Genomics Program from 2007 to 2009. Since 2009, she is a Senior Scientist at the Genomics and Health Department of FISABIO-Public Health in Valencia, and has been Head of the Department since 2012. Her current research focuses on the metagenomic analysis of human microbiome communities, in particular on understanding the development of the gut microbiota in infants. Work in her group analyzes the taxonomic composition, coding capabilities and gene expression patterns of the gut microbial community at different stages during infancy, as well as the relationships of these features with infant health. In addition, she is also interested in understanding the forces that shape the structure, organization and evolution of genomes. In previous and current work, she has addressed genome and molecular evolution subjects at different scales, ranging from the impact of mutational biases during DNA sequence evolution, to the evolution of new genes and their regulatory regions and the coevolution of different genomic traits.
Dany Garant
Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biology at Université de Sherbrooke.
Research in my lab aims to understand the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity, mainly through the establishment of evolutionary related parameters in their ecological context. Current research projects in our laboratory involve molecular ecology, quantitative genetics and population dynamics to study wild animal populations.
Sònia Garcia
My research is mainly directed towards understanding processes involved in plant genome evolution and organisation, from the sequence to the whole genome. Three areas are highlighted: the study of the evolution of genome size; the structure, organisation and function of ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) and telomere repeats, and the role of polyploidy and transposable elements (TE) in genome evolution. I have advanced these fields by: (1) the discovery of a novel arrangement of rDNA, first in several Asteraceae and later extended to gymnosperms, (2) the discovery of new telomere sequences in several organisms and (3) the launch and updating of four genomic databases, one compiling Asteraceae genome sizes; the next, on the number and distribution of rDNA sites in plant chromosomes; the following on the distribution of B chromosomes across biodiversity, and the most recent one on plant sex chromosomes. I am the PI of a project on the role of ribosomal DNA in evolution, including the analyses of the repeatome. I was recently involved in a project to examine the role of TE in the evolution of non-model plants and I also participate in a project on the origin and varieties of Cannabis. Beyond this, last year I started an initiative in my Institute to stress the role of women in science, by a series of conferences explaining the biographies and discoveries of relevant scientists in the fields of botany, genetics and genomics, both to the specialised and general public.
Rodolfo García-Contreras
Dr. Rodolfo García-Contreras is a Professor and Microbiologist in the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology at The National Autonomous University of Mexico. He is interested in quorum sensing, quorum quenching virulence, bacterial resistance, and alternative treatments for bacterial infections and bacteriophages.
Mikhail S Gelfand
Vice-Director for Science at the Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems. Professor of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, and Higher School of Economics. Member of Academia Europaea. Recipient of the 2007 Baev Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Member of Editorial Boards of PeerJ and Biology Direct.
Joseph J Gillespie
Dr. Gillespie is an evolutionary biologist with broad interests in organismal and molecular evolution. The major focus of his current research is deciphering the mechanisms by which obligate intracellular species of Rickettsiales (Alphaproteobacteria) invade, survive and replicate within eukaryotic cells.
In research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Gillespie utilizes phylogenetics, comparative genomics and bioinformatics to guide experimental research on various pathogenic species of Rickettsia and their associated arthropod vectors. His early research resulted in the reclassification of Rickettsia species and the identification of many lineage-specific pathogenicity factors. Through years of intense scrutinization of dozens of diverse rickettsial genomes, Dr. Gillespie and colleagues have described a large, dynamic mobilome for Rickettsia species, resulting in the identification of integrative conjugative elements as the vehicles for seeding Rickettsia genomes with many of the factors underlying obligate intracellular biology and pathogenesis. Via an iterative process of genome sequencing, phylogenomics, bioinformatics, and classical molecular biology and microbiology, Dr. Gillespie continues to lead and assist research projects on the characterization of rickettsial gene and protein function, as well as the description of cell envelope glycoconjugates.
Rosanna Giordano
Dr. Rosanna Giordano is Assistant Professor at Florida International University, Institute of Environment.
She received her undergraduate degree from Dowling College, her master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa, and her doctoral degree in Entomology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Giordano's primary research interests are focused on the population structure and genomics of invasive agricultural insect species such as aphids and honey bees. How the microbiome affects insect’s metabolism and their ability to cope with control strategies such as resistant plant varieties and insecticides. As well the development of genomic tools to track invasive insect species and to use insects as bio monitors of environmental pollution.
Tugrul Giray
I am a scientist working and living in Puerto Rico. I value enthusiasm about discovery, and the collective nature of scientific enterprise. I also hope that what we learn in the process is going to be used to improve our lives.
I am a Professor within the Biology Department at Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Rio Pidras.
My research focus is social insect behavior. I study evolution and genetics of physiological mechanisms of behavior to understand integration of individuals into the functional social insect colony.
Christopher J Glasby
Chris Glasby is a specialist in the systematics – taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography – of Annelida, specifically polychaetes (marine bristle worms). He is emeritus Curator of Annelids at the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin and an Honorary Research Associate of the Australian Museum, Sydney.