Ben Phillips (University of Melbourne)
Ben is deeply interested in how spatial processes influence evolution. This explains his involvement in various projects including hybrid zones, invasive species (cane toads), rapid evolution (snakes, chytrid fungus), and community dynamics (spinifex and fire). Add to that now Daphnia biology.
Nicole Mideo (University of Toronto )
Nicole studies the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases through a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches. She is interested in understanding the factors that regulate patterns of infection within and between hosts, and how these factors interact to shape disease evolution. Together, our recent work has explored these concepts with an eye to the differences in infection outcomes commonly observed between male and females.
Project: Linking male-female differences to pathogen evolution
Tim Connallon (Monash University)
Tim is interested in the intersection between evolutionary theory and data, including the specific models that we use to explain biological observations, and similarly, how we can use models and statistics to answer difficult questions in evolutionary biology. His research generally focuses on the evolution of sexual dimorphism, adaptation, and evolutionary constraints.
Carla Sgrò (Monash University)
Carla is an evolutionary biologist, interested in understanding the genetic basis of adaptation to environmental change. She uses a combination of techniques including clinal (field) studies of phenotypic divergence, experimental evolution, quantitative genetics and genomics to examine how organisms adapt to changing environmental conditions.
Dieter Ebert (University of Basel)
Dieter is Matt's former post-doc supervisor and original gateway to the Daphnia world. His main interests are rapid evolutionary processes such as host-parasite and host-mutualist evolution and coevolution, local adaptation and evolution in changing environments. The main study system for this work are Daphnia and its symbionts, including mutualist and parasites/pathogens.