Hugo Gante

Hugo Gante is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Science, KU Leuven, affiliated with the Department of Biology under the Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation unit. His research focuses on evolutionary biology, biodiversity monitoring, and climate change impacts on aquatic species, with projects spanning eDNA-based diagnostics to genomic studies of fish in the Albertine Rift and Eocene warming models.

• Key Projects: eDNA-Optima (biodiversity assessment), Epigenetic ecotoxicology (chemical impacts on DNA), and schistosomiasis/malaria diagnostics in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Research Trends: Integrates eDNA metabarcoding, phylogenetics, and genomic tools to study fish evolution, hybridization, and adaptive responses to environmental stressors.

Gante serves on the Council of the Faculty of Science and the Board of the Department of Biology. He is active in teaching and supervises students like T. Maes (2024) and M. Curto (2025). His ORCID ID is 0000-0002-0321-3023.