Rate My Professor Rachael Dudaniec

Dudaniec employs genomic sequencing methods including RADseq, RNAseq, whole genome sequencing, metabarcoding, and transcriptomics, integrated with spatial and ecological field data, to study environmental effects on gene flow, local adaptation, and pathogen dynamics in natural populations. Her research addresses how land-use changes and climate variation impact genetic connectivity, evolutionary processes, health, diversity, and adaptive capacity in species such as bumblebees, honeybees, damselflies, grasshoppers, Darwin's finches, and reptiles. Notable publications include 'Genomic introgression between critically endangered and stable species of Darwin's tree finches on the Galapagos Islands' (Evolutionary Applications, 2025), 'Landscape and climate-associated selection in the native and widespread bumblebee, Bombus terrestris' (Molecular Ecology, 2025), 'Landscape-wide metabarcoding shows interactions among the gut microbiome and pollen diversity in the invasive bumblebee, Bombus terrestris' (Ecology and Evolution, 2025), 'Fitness and morphology support genetic differentiation across different geographic scales in a native insect utilising native vs. invasive host plants' (Ecology and Evolution, 2025), and 'Latitudinal clines in sexual selection, sexual size dimorphism, and sex-specific genetic dispersal during a poleward range expansion' (Journal of Animal Ecology, 2022). Her work, cited over 3,192 times on Google Scholar, informs conservation and management of ecologically and economically significant species. She has presented public lectures including 'Insect evolution in response to environmental gradients' (2020) and 'Understanding insect evolutionary responses to shifting climatic gradients' (2019).