Tim Maes
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Present position: |
PostDoc |
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Research area: |
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Phone: |
+43 512 507-50216 |
Employment History
- May 2024 – present Postdoctoral researcher at the Research Department for Limnology, Mondsee, University of Innsbruck, Austria
- Feb 2019 – Feb 2024 PhD researcher (FWO-SB fellow) at the Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Belgium
- Feb 2018 – Jan 2019 Project leader at the Bodemkundige Dienst van België vzw, Belgium
- 2016-2017 Teacher’s education training
- 2015-2016M aster’s Thesis in population genetics, KU Leuven, Belgium
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Research interests
I have a broad interest in biology but in particular freshwater ecology, evolutionary processes and species’ responses to environmental change, including climate change. Most of my research has focused on species’ life-history and physiological adaptations to local climatic conditions and the genetic basis underlying these differences. Furthermore, I investigated how the interplay between climate change and the local adaptation capacity of a species could change their distribution in the future.
In my current research I investigate the consequences of climate change and other human induced environmental changes on the Lake Constance ecosystem. For this, I mainly focus on the spatio-temporal distribution and composition of the local waterflea (Daphnia) communities and how invasive species such as three-spined sticklebacks and quagga mussels, affect these dynamics.
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Teaching
- KU Leuven
- Ecological field course
- Ecological data analysis
- Moderator of student discussion sessions
- Supervision of bachelor projects
- Scientist@school, teaching about my research project in secondary schools
- Science outreach events
- BuSo Tongelsbos
- Mathematics teacher in secondary school special needs education
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Publications
Maes T., Verheyen J., Senghor B., Mudavanhu A., Schols R., Hellemans B., Geslain E., Volckaert F.A.M., Gante H.F., Huyse T. (2025). First evidence of a genetic basis for thermal adaptation in a schistosome host snail, Ecological Monographs 95(1): e70006. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.70006
Maes T., De Corte Z., Vangestel C., Virgilio M., Smitz N., Djuikwo-Teukeng F., Papadaki M.I. & Huyse T. (2022). Large scale and small-scale population genetic structure of the medically important gastropod species Bulinus truncatus (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia), Parasites & vectors 15(1): 328, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05445-x
Maes T., Hammoud C., Volckaert F.A.M. & Huyse T. (2021). A call for standardized snail ecological studies to support schistosomiasis risk assessment and snail control efforts, Hydrobiologia 848, 1773-1793, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04547-4
Boon N.A.M., Mbow M., Paredis L., Moris P., Sy I., Maes T., Webster B.L., Sacko M., Volckaert F.A.M., Polman K. & Huyse T. (2019). No barrier breakdown between human and cattle schistosome species in the Senegal River Basin in the face of hybridisation, International Journal for Parasitology 49 (13-14), 1039-1048, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.08.004
Debecker S., Sommaruga R., Maes T. & Stoks R. (2015). Larval UV exposure impairs adult immune function through a trade-off with larval investment in cuticular melanin, Functional Ecology 29 (10), 1292-1299, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12435
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