Hi,
My name is Andrea Chiocchio, from Italy, and since the 1st of February I have joined the Department of Biology of Lund University as postdoctoral researcher. I’ll work on butterfly and moths evolution in the Systematic Biology Group headed by Niklas Wahlberg, under the supervision of Jadranka Rota.
My research interests span from population, speciation and conservation genetics, to the phylogenetics and phylogeography of amphibians and lepidopterans. To date, my researches have been mainly focused on understanding why hotspots of genetic diversity are so hot. I have investigated the fine-scale genetic structure of several taxa inhabiting Mediterranean peninsulas, outlining the role of topographic complexity, Pleistocene climatic oscillations, and multiple secondary admixtures among previously differentiated gene pools, in the birth and maintenance of genetic diversity hotspots. Now I have the opportunity to move into a macro-evolutionary context. By the use of genomic data and phylogenetic comparative methods, I’ll investigate the adaptive radiation and the evolutionary history of all lepidopterans. In particular, I’m interested in reconstructing the timing of diversification of such an interesting group of living organisms.
So, I‘m looking forward to meeting you somewhere in the department, or elsewhere in Lund!
