In our research we apply an integrative approach to study evolutionary processes in natural populations. Major research themes include speciation and genome evolution.
One of the main question in our group is to understand the evolutionary processes and genetic mechanisms underlying species divergence. Using large-scale genetic approaches, we characterise genomic divergence across populations and (sub-)species differing in the degree of reproductive isolation and assess its relationship to functional phenotypic divergence. The relationship between genomic divergence and gene expression evolution as an intermediary between genotype and phenotype is of particularly interest. Empirical systems currently include birds (swallows and corvids) and marine mammals (pinnipeds and killer whales). Genomic incompatibilities are another important aspect of speciation genetics which we study in the European hemiclonal Pelophylax water frog system. In addition to micro-evolutionary patterns we also engage in (macro-evolutionary) comparative approaches to understand evolution at the level of the genome and the phenotype.