Helena Maria da Conceição Cotrim

I moved then from University of Porto where I was Assistant Professor in Botany, to propose a post doc at FCUL in orchid speciation and do research in other projects. After I had a Researcher Ciência2007 at University of Lisbon, and I´ve been Invited Assistant Professor at FCUL. I work in the Ecology of Environmental Change - eChanges subgroup of CE3C.

My research has been focused in threatened plant species genetics, gene flow and fragmented populations. I addressed plant hybridization and speciation of closely related species, particularly in sexually deceptive orchids – Ophrys spp. in relation to its pollinators. In my research I have been using molecular tools to determine genetic diversity in plants and its relation with adaptation and evolution, but I am also interested in pollinators, and to study adaptation and environmental changes in other organisms. With the powerful genomic technology, we can study adaptive genetic variation of species or populations and correlate allele frequencies with environment factors, thus linking genes to systems resilience.

Recently I participated in an international postgraduate student’s mobility project Erasmus+ “Higher Education Innovation in Plant Diversity". I belong to the Management Committee COST Action CA18134 - Genomic Biodiversity Knowledge for Resilient Ecosystems.