Through the Path of the Giant:
the role of tortoise corridors for earthworm invasion in Galapagos and other factors
Funded by National Geographic Society (NGS-62087R-19)
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MARTA NOVO
Ramón y Cajal Fellow
Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
I have mainly devoted my scientific career to unravel the mysteries of life within soil. My work on earthworms’ evolutionary biology has focused on molecular phylogeny, phylogeography, systematics, speciation, reproduction and adaptation to stressful environmental factors. My questions have been directed towards endemic, cosmopolitan and lately invasive species. These animals, although often neglected, represent a fantastic model for different elementary questions, since they live intimately related and influenced by the soil, and their dispersal capacity (with exceptions) is relatively low. That makes them excellent candidates to study phylogeographic patterns, cryptic speciation or adaptation capacities (phenotypic, genomic or epigenomic). My research covers diverse topics on animal macro- and microevolution from deep phylogenies to molecules.
JAIME ORTIZ
Ph.D. Graduate Student
Cornell University, USA
jdo53@cornell.edu
I am a Galápagueño dedicated to preserving island ecosystems. For my doctorate, I will be studying the invasive earthworms in the Galapagos Islands, which together with invasive ants may be contributing to the spread of invasive plant populations. My goal is to understand the introduction history of invasive earthworms and their evolutive response to the hostile environment of the Galapagos and to the co-occurrence of other invasive species, using mainly phylogenetic tools.
LUIS CUNHA
Senior Researcher
University of Coimbra, Portugal
I am a molecular ecologist specialized in invertebrate biology, currently working as a Lecturer in Ecology at the University of South Wales. I have been actively involved in several NGS-based genomic and transcriptomic projects to assemble and annotate several invertebrate genomes. I am also involved in projects related to evolutionary ecology, phylogenetics and population genetics (and genomics), including of metazoan organisms living in extreme environments. I am particularly amazed by the volcanic “version” of Pontoscolex corethrurus, which became the main subject of study during my PhD research project. My current research projects focus on the study of soil biodiversity in historical anthropogenic ecosystems, in particular, looking at the Amazonian Dark Earth. I am also interested in using animals closely associated with human activity, in particular, earthworms, to infer ancient human movements across South America.