معرفی
Luc De Meester is a distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at KU Leuven, Belgium, where he holds a 20% position, and serves as Director of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, Germany. He also holds a full professorship in Freshwater Science at Freie Universität Berlin. His career spans over three decades with significant contributions to evolutionary ecology, particularly using zooplankton (Daphnia) as model organisms.
De Meester's research interests focus on evolutionary responses to natural and human-induced stressors including pollution, global warming, and habitat fragmentation. His work spans aquatic ecology of shallow lakes and ponds, biodiversity conservation in aquatic habitats, restoration ecology, and the ecology of resting egg banks. He has pioneered research in metacommunity structure and population genetics of zooplankton, with particular emphasis on eco-evolutionary dynamics.
His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on eco-evolutionary feedbacks across multiple scales, from microbial interactions to landscape-level patterns. He has been instrumental in developing novel statistical approaches for biodiversity assessment using large datasets, while maintaining his foundational work on Daphnia as a model system. His research increasingly integrates genomic perspectives with ecological questions, particularly regarding host-microbiome interactions.
- Laureate of a Francqui Foundation Research Professor fellowship (2012-2014)
- Laureate of the Academy 2003, Class Natural Sciences, Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgium
De Meester has supervised over 35 PhD students to completion and mentored more than 24 postdocs. His research is supported by numerous grants including projects on biodiversity change assessment, eco-evolutionary dynamics under global change, and metacommunity responses to environmental stressors. He leads the Evolving Metacommunities research group at IGB Berlin and maintains strong collaborative ties with KU Leuven's Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation unit.
His laboratory focuses on experimental and field studies of zooplankton communities, particularly Daphnia, examining evolutionary responses to environmental change. The group maintains specialized facilities for resurrection ecology studies, common garden experiments, and microbiome analyses, contributing significantly to our understanding of rapid evolutionary processes in natural populations.
