Major research interests:
- Studying ties between plants biodiversity and ecology
- Taxonomy, phylogenetics and biogeography of several hyperdiverse plant groups (e.g. Euphorbia L. in Madagascar, Solanum L. in the Old World)
- Deciphering the evolutionary history and the origin of the morphological/ecological plasticity of the wild relatives of the aubergine (high-throughput NGS data)
Key skills:
- Extensive use of molecular tools and software applied to phylogenetics and taxonomy
(e.g. DNA extraction/amplification; phylogenetic reconstruction; molecular dating with fossil calibration; DNA barcoding) - Specialist of plant morphoanatomy (species descriptions and taxonomic revisions)
- Experienced in analysing different types of data (e.g. phylogenetic, morphological and
climatic data) and ability to conduct statistical comparative analyses (R scripting) - Skilled in production, treatment and analysis of high-throughput NGS data for comprehensive large-scale phylogenies (assembly, control quality and annotation)
- Highly skilled in the organisation and management of collecting field trips in tropical countries (Madagascar, Thailand, India)
- Ability to write and contribute to scientific papers in every type of peer-rewied journals
- Good communication skills and ability to develop positive and productive relationships in an international and multicultural context (e.g. successful involvements in several global research projects: EuphORBia PBI project, Solanum PBI project, French National Agency for Research project Evorange “6ème extinction”)
- Extensive experience in teaching (lectures and tutorials at Master level, elaboration of pedagogical support, public engagement) and student supervision (BTS, Licence and Master levels) ; cf. see Teaching and Student supervision
- Strong taxonomical and natural history background, useful to develop a rapid knowledge of the floristic diversity of a given area (including in the tropics)
Xavier Aubriot 