Research projects

My research covers three broad themes: taxonomy and conservation, evolutionary biology, and community ecology of trophic interactions. I believe that everything starts with naming and understanding diversity. How can we protect if we do not know what is present? My group apply species delimitation methods based on results of phylogenetic reconstructions, to inform about taxonomy. We use phylogenetics and phylogenomics as tools to decipher evolutionary relationships and improve classification accuracy. Finally, we have a fascination for trophic interaction networks and are interested in how biotic and abiotic factors affect parasitic and hyperparasitic associations.

• Host-segregated diversity of Hesperomyces virescens, a common parasite of ladybirds
• Laboulbenia hyalopoda and L. notiophili—synonyms or two species?
• Long-term fungal inventory in Cusuco National Park, Honduras
• All-fungal taxa inventory at a drumlin archipelago
• Microbial communities of the romaine lettuce phylloplane

• Diversity and genomic-scale phylogeny of the class Leotiomycetes
• Evolutionary relationships among higher clades of Laboulbeniomycetes

• Laboulbeniales fungi associated with ectoparasitic bat flies: biotic and abiotic traits affecting parasitism
• Host specificity patterns of tritrophic associations
• Have host shifts promoted diversification of Laboulbeniales on bat flies?