Michael Joseph Jowers

I graduated in zoology from the University of Southampton - England- (1996). I hold a master's degree from Imperial College London -England- (2001) and a doctorate in evolutionary genetics from the University of Glasgow -Scotland- (2006). From 2009-2013 I was a postdoctoral researcher for the Spanish Council of research (CSIC), Seville-Spain- and thereafter at the University of Porto (CIBIO) -Portugal- for a Year. In 2016 I was Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Ecology -South Korea-. Since the end of 2016 I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Porto (CIBIO) -Portugal-. My areas of expertise are phylogenetics, biogeography, systematics, taxonomy and population genetics. I focus on reptiles and amphibians from South America but I regularly work with mammals, avian species and arthropods.My lines of research have focused on ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes, mostly through the assessment of biological and ecological effects on speciation and the tempo and mode of such. The knowledge I have acquired over the years concerns mainly evolutionary biology questions through population ecology, wildlife biodiversity, phylogeography, biogeography, taxonomy and conservation, combining various concepts and approaches such as phylogenetics, systematics, population genetics, morphometrics and ethology to ultimately address how different selection pressures and adaptation to the environment have affected different species (with its taxonomical implications), their past and present distributions and their population structures. I am particularly interesting in systematics of reptile and amphibian species complex (cryptic species) and understanding the evolutionary processes involved.I am interested in vertebrate biogeography and systematics (mostly cryptic reptiles and amphibians). I am keen to understand the distribution of species in relation to historical topographical and environmental changes. I assess how speciation patterns are influenced through colonization capability. I use biogeography, phylogenetics and systematics to address these questions through a multidisciplinary approach (genetics, morphology, ethology, ecology). I am also interested in population genetics through the use of microsatellites to examine gene flow and connectivity between populations. Overall I am keen to address my findings from a conservation perspective directly linked to the species´ in question, ultimately contributing to future conservation management and implementation.