DrThomas Schmidt

I lead the PGoDA lab (Population Genomics of Dispersal and Adaptation).

Invasive insect pests are a major global problem. They are also fantastic models for understanding rapid and repeated adaptation, urban evolution, long-distance dispersal, and other processes that are shaping the biology of the 21st century. 

PGoDA studies these processes in a range of pests, including:

• Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (major international pests that spread dengue and resist insecticides)
• Aedes notoscriptus and Aedes vigilax (Australian mosquitoes that are currently invading new regions)
• Euwallacea fornicatus (inbreeding, fungus-farming weevils that attack trees)
• Liriomyza trifolii (leaf-mining flies that have recently invaded three Australian states)