I am a PhD student interested in the evolution and biodiversity of plants. I study the evolutionary patterns and processes that shape plant diversity across islands. My research focus is on the incredibly diverse daisy family (Asteraceae) and its evolution and diversification in the context of island biogeography.
Keywords
Evolution, Island biogeography, Plant diversity, Angiosperms, Asteraceae
Researchinterest
Islands harbour a great amount of biodiversity found nowhere else on Earth. They are sites of spectacular species radiations and key natural laboratories for testing and understanding evolutionary processes.
Asteraceae is a mega-diverse (and the largest!) plant family, with an estimated 25,000–35,000 species. This is a remarkable family for studying the dynamics of island diversification, as it has many independent island radiations and over a thousand island endemic species. In my PhD research, I combine natural history collections, fieldwork, and phylogenomics to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of insular Asteraceae. Through this, I hope to understand how ecological interactions and island features shape the macroevolution of Asteraceae on islands at a global scale.
Currenttopics
A selection of the topics I am working on currently.
Island biogeography of Asteraceae
Publications
- R. Cámara-Leret, N. Raes, P. Roehrdanz, Y. De Fretes, C. D. Heatubun, L. Roeble, A. Schuiteman, P. van Welzen, L. Hannah, Climate change threatens New Guinea’s biocultural heritage. Science Advances. 5, eaaz1455 (2019). pdf