Research
Overview Our research focuses on fundamental questions in ecology, island biology, biogeography, molecular biology, and evolutionary biology. We primarily use genomic data, such as reference genomes and population/species-level sampling, which we integrate with environmental and phenotypic data.
Research Questions Our work explores key themes such as speciation, adaptation, molecular evolution, and island biology. Some of the questions we investigate include: How do genomes evolve? How do species adapt to new ecological niches? How does adaptation to these niches influence genome evolution? What drives diversifications and/or adaptive radiations? What is the biogeography of specific lineages?
Study Systems We mainly focus on insular systems. Currently, our lab is researching the Galápagos Scalesia radiation, Galápagos Darwiniothamnus and Lecocarpus, the Cabo Verdean endemic sparrow (Passer iagoensis), and various lineages from the Malay Archipelago.
Publications While we do not keep a curated collection of publications exclusive to the laboratory, you can check out the scholar profile of the group coordinator, José Cerca
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