Our research bridges genomics, physiology, ecotoxicology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary biology to understand how organisms respond, adapt, and evolve under environmental change.
Our work focuses on three interconnected areas:
Adaptive and evolutionary epigenetics — investigating how epigenetic mechanisms drive adaptation and evolution in populations with low genetic diversity, providing insight into resilience and conservation under genetic bottlenecks.
Long-term and transgenerational effects of environmental stress — exploring how pollutants and other stressors trigger delayed and inherited effects on physiology, behavior, neurodegeneration, and aging, shedding light on the environmental origins of health and disease.
Epigenetics in conservation biology and aquaculture — applying epigenomic tools to monitor population health, guide management strategies, and enhance sustainability in both wild and cultured species.
Using fish models such as the mangrove rivulus (Kryptolebias marmoratus) - the only vertebrate that self-fertilize - and the turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) - a short-lived vertebrate ideal for studying aging - we integrates molecular, physiological, and behavioral analyses with field ecology and bioinformatics.
We recently developed an epigenetic clock in the mangrove rivulus, a biomarker linking environmental history, stress, and biological aging. This approach is now being extended to conservation contexts, including endangered species such as the beluga whale and endemic fish from Ecuador, to better understand how environment and time shape life’s resilience.
Field trip in South Florida in July 2025October 2, 2025Scientific Mission to South Florida – Epigenetics and Environmental Stress in Mangrove Rivulus and […]
The first epigenetic clock on the mangrove rivulus is in preprint !September 21, 2025Justine Bélik has published as a preprint the first epigenetic clock in the mangrove rivulus, and the first […]
New PhD position to work on the Beluga whaleJuly 29, 2025We are pleased to announce two fully funded PhD positions within our new research project on the St. Lawrence […]
New article in Belgian Journal of ZoologyFebruary 28, 2025Anthony Mathiron, our former post-doc researcher, published his last data collected at LEAP in the Belgian […]
Benelux Congress of Zoology 2024December 16, 2024LEAP and the URBE were massively represented at the Benelux Congress of Zoology (14 URBE members – a […]
Frédéric’s mission to Otago UniversityDecember 7, 2024Frédéric Silvestre recently spent two weeks at the University of Otago in Dunedin, located in the […]
Frédéric Silvestre is in New Zealand !November 27, 2024From November 22nd till December 6th, Frédéric Silvestre will visit the University of Otago in the South-East […]
New academic position in biodiversityOctober 22, 2024We’re happy to announce that our research unit at UNamur (Research Unit in Environmental and […]
Master thesis 2025 at LEAPOctober 10, 2024The topics available to work on a master thesis at LEAP are available here. Please don’t wait too long […]