Ecology, Ecotoxicology, and Environmental Genomics

This research theme encompasses ecosystem function and health, ecological services, resilience, and adaptation to anthropogenic environmental disturbances, for which genomic and ecotoxicological tools are used.

Research involves all links in the food web, from microorganisms to vertebrates and their habitats. New approaches must be developed to account for climate change and emerging contaminants, among others, and to monitor and assess their effects on living organisms and ecosystems.  

• Assess ecosystem services (clean water supply, quality resources, recreation, and relaxation) and project the future trajectories of these services.
• Perform field sampling, laboratory work, and mathematical modelling to understand the environmental health of various regions, taking into account all aspects of food webs, from microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, microalgae, and protists) to vertebrates (fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals) and their habitats.  

• Use molecular tools (such as metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metalomics) to assess the health of aquatic ecosystems: analyze environmental DNA profiles in water; examine the effects of contaminants on DNA, animal genes, and proteins; assess the ecotoxicological risk of anthropogenic activities; track the movement of wildlife in their habitats; and quantify the microbial diversity of anthropized and natural ecosystems.