Dr Floriaan Devloo-Delva

Floriaan is a postdoctoral researcher at the Australian National Fish Collection focussing on adaptation genomics and epigenomics of cartilaginous and bony fishes. Floriaan completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania where he investigated the sex-specific

connectivity patterns of sharks. Previous research areas include eDNA, metabarcoding and population genetics, as well as invasive species ecology and bioinformatics. His current project looks at the adaptive potential of fishes to cope with changing environments. Overall, Floriaan’s research aims to provide a better understanding of a species’ ability to persist under environmental and anthropogenic pressures (i.e. move or adapt).

 

As part of the Environomics FSP, Floriaan’s research explores the potential of epigenetic markers to inform on ecological separation between natural populations. Epigenetics, which means ‘above genetics’, works at much faster timescales by essentially adjusting the switches that turn certain genes on and off. Unlocking this new ‘omics source to provide population-specific biomarkers will improve the management of wildlife and fisheries where conventional DNA-based techniques have failed.