About
Robby Stoks is a Professor and Head of the Division of Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology at KU Leuven's Faculty of Science. His research integrates global change ecology, evolutionary ecology, and ecotoxicology to understand how natural populations cope with environmental challenges. Based in Leuven, Belgium, his laboratory focuses on aquatic invertebrates as model systems to study responses to rapid planetary changes.
Stoks' research interests center on the intersection of global change ecology, evolutionary responses, and ecotoxicology. His work particularly examines how aquatic invertebrates navigate environmental stressors through the lens of environmental gradients and range expansions. He employs diverse methodologies including field monitoring, ecophysiology, predator-prey interaction studies, gut microbiome analyses, and various omics techniques to unravel complex ecological dynamics.
His recent publications reveal a strong focus on microbiome-ecology interactions, particularly how gut microbiomes influence stress responses in damselflies and Daphnia. A clear pattern emerges showing how environmental stressors like pesticides, warming, and invasive species interact in complex ways, with microbiome composition often mediating these responses. His work increasingly addresses multistressor frameworks, demonstrating how evolutionary adaptations to one stressor (like heat tolerance) can be compromised by exposure to pollutants.
Stoks leads the Laboratory of Evolutionary Stress Ecology and Ecotoxicology, which conducts research on environmental gradients, range expansions, and stressor interactions. His team's approach combines field-based natural experiments with controlled laboratory studies to understand both immediate and evolutionary responses to environmental change. Current projects appear to focus on microbiome-mediated stress responses, multistressor interactions, and the ecological consequences of body size reductions under warming.
