Kanchon Dasmahapatra

Professor Kanchon Dasmahapatra is a Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology at the University of York and a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. He holds an Associate Editor role at Animal Conservation. His research focuses on speciation, gene flow, and adaptation, using systems such as Heliconius butterflies, cichlid fish, and pinnipeds. He has a PhD in Genetic Analysis from the University of Cambridge (2004–2007) and prior postdoctoral work with Jim Mallet at UCL.

His research interests include speciation with gene flow, adaptive introgression, and the genetic basis of extreme adaptations in organisms like Alcolapia cichlids. He collaborates globally with institutions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the University of Melbourne. Current projects involve genomic studies of hybridization, climate-driven range shifts in butterflies, and genetic consequences of extreme environments in fish.

His lab includes postdocs, PhD students (e.g., Alex Page on invasive plants, Edd Page on Heliconius flight dynamics), and undergraduate researchers. Notable past students include Dr. Lucie Queste. He teaches modules on population genetics and ecological genetics, emphasizing interactive learning and critical analysis of primary literature.

His work spans Heliconius mimicry evolution, soda lake cichlid adaptation, and heterozygosity-fitness correlations in pinnipeds. He leads NERC-funded projects and collaborates on grants like ‘The genetic basis of convergence across evolutionary time.’