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Contact:
Metapopulation Research Group Department of Biosciences PO Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1) FI-00014 University of Helsinki FINLAND phone +358 9 1911 (Exchange) firstname.lastname(at)helsinki.fi Comments on the pages to
Watch the video of the brave explorers from MRG on Madagascar! |
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Profile Since September 2008 I’ve been a faculty member at the Department of Applied Biology (University of Helsinki) in Plant Pathology. I have my background in ecology and evolutionary biology, and I received my PhD in 2005 on host-parasite interactions. The doctoral work was carried out in the MRG under the supervision of Prof. Ilkka Hanski. Since then I’ve continued working with coevolving interactions, both here in Helsinki as well as at the University of California in the Lab of Prof. John N. Thompson. Research The overwhelming diversity and abundance of parasites makes them a fascinating subject of evolutionary research. To date we are still puzzled by how polymorphism is maintained in parasite populations - a dilemma at the very heart of evolutionary biology. I'm tackling questions of host-parasite evolution within an ecological framework that accounts for both biotic and abiotic variation as well as spatial population structures. I combine epidemiological, experimental, and molecular approaches to understand how diversity is maintained in host and parasite populations. Understanding this will be one step closer to answering questions of how risks of virulence and parasite occurrence evolve - important questions from both basic and applied points of view. Misc The Good Food Society. |
