Rudiger Riesch

Rudiger Riesch is a Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology at the Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London. His research focuses on understanding evolutionary processes driving biodiversity, particularly in extreme environments and invasive species. He leads studies on extremophile poeciliid fishes, Timema walking-stick insects, and ecological speciation mechanisms. His work integrates field studies, genomic approaches, and experimental ecology to address questions of phenotypic divergence, reproductive isolation, and human impacts on biodiversity.

Riesch’s research interests include the evolutionary ecology of invasive species, such as poeciliids, examining traits contributing to their success. He investigates ecological speciation in systems like hydrogen sulfide springs and cave environments, exploring how life histories and behaviors drive divergence. Collaborations with institutions like CEFE-CNRS (Montpellier) and the University of Oklahoma highlight his interdisciplinary approach. His lab also examines maternal provisioning strategies in livebearing fish and the evolutionary dynamics of killer whale ecotypes.

Key awards include the 2011 Provost’s Ph.D. Dissertation Award and the 2008 James Thompson Award for Teaching Excellence. Riesch is an editorial board member for Ecology and Evolution and actively participates in conferences like the International Amazon Molly Workshop. His grants and supervision span multiple PhD and MSc projects, with recent students focusing on topics like oil pollution effects on guppies and Timema genomics.

Riesch’s work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to biodiversity conservation (SDG 15), leveraging insights from evolutionary biology to address environmental challenges.