Research interests

I am an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in how species and biodiversity emerge and are maintained. In particular, I study the continuum along which speciation unfolds itself, combining phenotypic, ecological and genomic data also aiming to bridge between fundamental research and conservation biology. Currently, I focus on the evolution and genomic aspects of reproductive isolation using Arabidopsis plants and Erebia butterflies as model systems.

For more details see my personal webpage

Education and professional experience

Since 2016 (Aug) Independent Group Leader, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland
2015 – 2016 Swiss National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK
2013 – 2015 Postdoc, Division of Aquatic Ecology, University of Bern, Switzerland & Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland
2009 – 2013 PhD, Division of Aquatic Ecology, University of Bern, Switzerland & Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland

Selected Publications

Full list of publications see here

Lucek (2018) Evolutionary mechanisms of varying chromosome numbers in the radiation of Erebia butterflies. Genes 9: 1662018

Lucek et al. (2018) Distinct colonization waves underlie the diversification of the freshwater sculpin (Cottus gobio) in the Central European Alpine region. Journal of Evolutionary Biology: 31: 1254-1267

Lucek (2016) Cryptic invasion drives phenotypic changes in central European threespine stickleback. Conservation Genetics 17:993-999

Lucek et al. (2014) Disentangling the role of phenotypic plasticity and genetic divergence in contemporary ecotype formation during a biological invasion. Evolution 68:2619-2632

Lucek K et al. (2010) Hybridization between distant lineages increases adaptive variation during a biological invasion: stickleback in Switzerland. Molecular Ecology 19:3995-4011