Samuel Vanden Abeele

Research scientist Phylogeography and population genetics of tropical African trees and crop wild relatives Department: Research Contact: samuel.vandenabeele@plantentuinmeise.be Phone: +32 2 260 09 60 ORCID  |  Google Scholar  |  ResearchGate  |  Twitter: @SamuelVdAbeele

Summary

My research focuses on the evolutionary history of tropical forests in the Congo Basin. I apply phylogenomics, phylogeography and population genomics methods to unravel the evolutionary relationships and dynamics within genera of the Detarioideae subfamily (Fabaceae), e.g. Prioria and Gilbertiodendron. 

My genetics research also focusses on crop wild relatives (coffee, bananas and beans).

Research themes:

• Population genetics and evolution of African trees
• Wood identification
• Diversity of crop wild relatives (CWRs)

Qualifications
Degrees

• PhD, Free University of Brussels (ULB), Brussels, Belgium, 2019
• MSc, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 2015 

Employment history

• Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Cambridge, UK, 2022 - ongoing
• Research scientist, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium, Sept. 2021 - Dec. 2021
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA, 2020-2021
• PhD student, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium, 2015 - 2019

Projects

• HERBAXYLAREDD: Unlocking valuable ecological information from the collections of the Meise Botanic Garden Herbarium and the Royal Museum for Central Africa Xylarium
• Effects of tropical rainforest disturbance on gene flow, genomic diversity and introgression in understory trees: the case of Coffea canephora in the Congo basin
• Diversity of Coffea in the Congo basin with a focus on the Yangambi MAB reserve

Publications

FRIS research portal