Marco Todesco

Marco Todesco is an Assistant Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and Department of Botany at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Science. His research focuses on understanding plant adaptation through genomics, evolutionary biology, and field experiments. Key areas include sunflower and cannabis diversity, with interests in sustainable crop improvement and climate resilience.

Education:

• PhD in Plant Biotechnology from Eberhard Karls Universität and Max Planck Institute (Tübingen, Germany)
• M.Sc. in Plant Biotechnology from the University of Padua, Italy

Research Interests: Combining genomics and ecology to study adaptive strategies in plants. Current projects address climate adaptation in sunflowers, cannabis genomic resources, and seagrass resilience to climate change. His work emphasizes chromosomal inversions, UV floral patterns, and seed camouflage mechanisms.

Publications: Recent work spans genomic analyses of sunflower inversions, cannabis disease resistance, and Arctic plant refugia. Studies highlight the role of inversions in parallel adaptation and the genetic basis of adaptive traits like floral pigmentation and camouflage.

Lab & Students: Supervises PhD and Master’s students in plant genetics, genomics, and sustainable agriculture. Current projects include cannabis fiber improvement, sunflower transformation, and seagrass adaptation. Undergraduate researchers assist in genomic studies and field experiments.