Projects
New morphological framework and phylogenetic analysis of long-snouted crocodylians: solving the missing pieces of the gharial puzzle KU Leuven
Among living crocodylians are species with long, narrow snouts: the Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and the Malayan or "false" gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii). The phylogenetic relationships between these two species have been heavily debated due to discrepancies between molecular and morphological data. While recent studies are increasingly finding a consensus for the extant species, the problem now involves mostly the relationships of ...
Testing viral evolutionary hypotheses using Bayesian phylogenetic inference and visualization. KU Leuven
In this project, I propose to work on state-of-the-art Bayesian phylogenetic inference and visualisation techniques to investigate the phylodynamics of pathogens.Specifically, I will advance a model to capture how evolutionary processes change through time by implementing the capability to incorporate and test covariates. I will design a stochastic modeling approach with associated inference machinery to detect variation in natural selection ...
Molecular phylogenetic biodiversity assessment of tropical African ectomycorrhizal fungi, with an emphasis on Russulaceae Ghent University
This project aims to resolve the phylogeny of the genus LActifluus and wants to estimate divergence times for the origin and diversification of the genus and develop a model-based historical biogeographical hypothesis for the evolutionary diversification. We also want to reveal the hidden diversity of Russulaceae species and other ectomycorrhizal fungi using ectomycorrhizal root tip samples and pyrosequencing.