Sofia/Salem Samoylova

University of Bristol Climate and Health Scholarship PhD Student

My research interest lies with the effect of maternal environment on progeny health and survival. I graduated from the University of Bath having completed my Molecular Biosciences MSc (2021-2022) and my Biochemistry BSc(2018-2021). During my MSc I undertook projects studying the effects of maternal famine on progeny metabolism and analysing wound healing within the context of diabetes using zebrafish as a model. For my Bachelors final year project, I analysed the incorporation of endogenous traits such as axolotl limb regeneration into the human genome. My current PhD project focuses on the impact of heat on pregnancy outcomes through an interdisciplinary and cross-species approach.

Andy Saxon

Research Technician

My research background has primarily focused on how environmental and genetic variation interact to affect key fitness traits. Currently, I am investigating molecular responses to heat stress in pregnancy in Diploptera punctata. My PhD (2018, Bristol) utilised tropical Drosophila to measure such fitness variation across elevational gradients. Previously, my Master's research (2011, Bath) involved generating species distribution models for birds, to aid conservation efforts in the Cape Verde islands, and my Bachelor's project (2007, UWE) explored how woodland management strategies impact fungal diversity. Prior to my work in the EVE lab, I have been a research technician on varied projects, such as investigating the underlying molecular mechanisms of incipient speciation in African cichlids, developing environmental DNA assays to improve aquaculture production in Tanzania and using eDNA metabarcoding to characterise fish biodiversity in Tanzanian river systems.

Iswarya Mohan

Bristol (EPSRC) and Macquarie (Cotutelle) PhD Student

My PhD investigates how maternal behaviour and larval environment influence disease transmission in mosquitoes, using modelling and experimental approaches. Having a master's degree in public health entomology, my academic interests lie in integrating ecological, behavioural, and epidemiological approaches to enhance the understanding of vector-borne disease dynamics. Previously, I worked on two distinct projects, one focused on investigating the seasonal dynamics of dengue vectors and their implications for transmission risk in Bangalore, India. The other involved understanding and co-developing interventions targeting scrub typhus, leptospirosis, and Kyasanur Forest Disease, affecting forest communities in the Western Ghats of India.

Alexandra Jansen van Rensburg

Senior Research Associate

I am a population geneticist fascinated by the phenotypic effect of genetic variation with different environments. My research in EVE Lab aims to understand how diet and infection during pregnancy can affect maternal and offspring health outcomes (funded by UKRI FLF). My previous research spans multiple taxa and systems, from island birds to amphibians and insects, with a consistent focus on the genomic patterns underlying population structure and adaptive divergence. I hold a BSc in Human Genetics and have explored questions such as how population structure and adaptive divergence are influenced by environmental gradients in common frogs (PhD, 2018), the role of standing variation versus novel mutations in butterfly adaptation (University of Bristol), and long-term genomic change in UK Lepidoptera since 1900 (UCL/University of Liverpool). I am particularly interested in harnessing big data, machine learning and AI to uncover associations between environmental variables and genomic patterns. With a certificate in Data Engineering and extensive bioinformatics experience, I bring a computational lens to evolutionary questions, aiming to bridge ecological genomics with scalable, data-driven approaches.