DESPRÉS Laurence

Laurence Després is a professor at the Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) and conducts his research at Laboratoire d’Écologie Alpine (LECA). She teaches evolutionary biology, ecology, adaptation genetics and molecular phylogeny, and is in charge of the Master of Biodiversité Ecologie Evolution (BEE) at the UGA, Dynamics and Biodiversity Modeling (DynaMo). She is interested in the evolutionary ecology of sustainable interactions (host-parasite or host-mutualist) and co-evolution, adaptation genetics and speciation, particularly in insects. His work combines genetic approaches with ecological, biochemical or behavioural analyses to test hypotheses on the nature of constraints on natural (or experimental) populations and on the evolution of complex adaptive traits. His most recent work focuses on the evolution of cocktail resistance to toxins produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) in mosquitoes, and on the diversification of butterflies along altitudinal gradients in the Alps. She is the author of more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals and three book chapters, and has supervised 8 doctoral students.