João Lucas | Doctoral Researcher, M.Sc.
I am a doctoral researcher in the Department of Biology and Biodiversity Unit at the University of Turku, working in the tick and tick-borne pathogen research group. My doctoral research focuses on tick ecology and tick-borne pathogens, where I aim to investigate changes in tick distribution and pathogen diversity in Finland under a changing climate over the past decade, utilizing a country-wide citizen science initiative, molecular biology, bioinformatics and GIS. My doctoral work is conducted under the supervision of Dr. Jani Sormunen, Dr. Eero Vesterinen and Dr. Niko Kulha.
My research interests are:
- Tick ecology and tick-borne pathogens: Tick distributions, population ecology, pathogen diversity and vector-host-pathogen interactions.
- Molecular ecology and bioinformatics: Molecular identification and characterization of ticks and tick-borne pathogens using molecular and computational approaches.
- Citizen science, science communication and teaching: Using large-scale observations and spatial analyses to investigate changes in tick distributions and their environmental drivers, as well as promoting scientific literacy and public awareness. I am also interested in teaching and communicating entomology, parasitology, animal physiology and related areas of zoology in both academic and public settings.
- Entomology and arthropod ecology: With particular interests in ticks, beetles and myriapods.
- Medical parasitology: My academic background includes medical entomology, helminthology and protozoology. I am interested in parasite-host-pathogen interactions and their public health implications.