Damien Esquerré (Principal investigator)

I am originally from Chile but have lived in Australia since 2013. I am an evolutionary biologist and herpetologist interested in the processes that lead to increased speciation and evolution. I work on several groups of lizards, snakes and frogs, mostly from Australia and Chile but I also look at them at a more global scale. I did my Bachelor's degree in Biological Science at the Universidad Católica de Chile, and then moved to Australia in 2013 to join Scott Keogh's lab as an MPhil student, then PhD and finally I worked there for almost four years as a postdoc. I was recently awarded a DECRA Fellowship to work on snake venom evolution and was appointed as a Lecturer at the University of Wollongong. I am now building my research group. Aside from science and animals, I love photography, music, and animation. Husband to biologist Connie Leon and father to little Dalia.

James Dorey (Lecturer/Research associate)

James was recently hired as backfill lecturer for three years to cover my teaching while I do my DECRA. He is also working on his exciting research on the macroecology, macroevolution, and systematics of Oceanic bees, and we will  also be collaborating on various projects. James did his undergrad at the University of Queensland, his PhD at Flinders University and a postdoc at Yale University. He is one of Australia's leading experts on bee evolution and has even written a book on the bees of Australia. Outside of research, he loves fishing, volleyball and nature photography. Check his website!

Bojana Kuzmicic (Masters student)

Bojana is doing her Master at the Universidad de Valparaíso in Chile. I am supervising her thesis, doing phylogeography, species delineation and taxonomy on the extremely cool and complicated Liolaemus gravenhorstii complex. Bojana is a Natural Resources Engineer from the Universidad de Chile, interested in wildlife and nature. In her spare time she likes to travel, find new species and be with her family and friends.

Tarani Jindal (Masters student)

Tarani is doing a Masters in Biosciences at the University of Melbourne co-supervised by Dr. Iliana Medina Guzman and myself. Interested in behavioural and evolutionary biology, her thesis will focus on studying sex-biased dispersal in Harlequin bugs and whether it is linked to the strength of chemical warning signal. She has worked with birds, fish and snakes in India, and is keen to explore the incredible fauna of Australia. Outside of research, Tarani enjoys performing arts (such as theatre and dance).

Neil Balchan (Visiting PhD student)

Neil is doing a PhD in Integrative Biology at Oklahoma State University supervised by Dr. Guin Wogan. Neil is interested in the evolution and ecology of snakes and venoms, and has several ongoing projects involving vipers and elapids. Neil’s dissertation focuses on understanding the evolution of Asiatic cobras and their venoms, and his research combines fieldwork across Southeast Asia with lab-based genomics and proteomics methods. During his time at the Biodiversity Evolution Lab I will be supervising different projects involving the evolution of cobras and frogs and he will be helping with projects involving snake venom evolution. When not in the lab, Neil enjoys traveling and exploring and he can typically be found chasing snakes in the field. 

Kamryn Carter (Honours student)

Kamryn is doing a Bachelor of Conservation Biology, and completing her Honours with me at the University of Wollongong. She is looking at the diversity, biogeography and evolution of the enigmatic Garthia geckoes from northern Chile. Kamryn loves being outside in nature and is constantly looking for unique animals and plants. If not at Uni, she's caring for her hundreds of plants and frog.

Brogan Dragisic (Honours student)

Brogan is studying a Bachelor of Conservation Biology at UOW, and recently finished a semester abroad in Colorado, USA. I am co-supervising his honours thesis with Assoc. Prof. Phil Byrne and Dr. Aimee Silla, where he will be researching the population genetics of Bibron's toadlets (Pseudophryne bibronii). Ultimately, Brogan is pursuing a career in which he will aid in the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity. In his spare time, he enjoys macro photography, films, basketball, and travel.  

Jesse Campbell (Undergraduate research project student)

Jesse is completing a Bachelor of Science at UOW. He is currently completing an undergraduate research project, co-supervised by myself, George Madani and Chad Beranek, that examines the relationship between the burrows of Lycosid spiders and the endangered Monaro earless dragon (Tympanocryptis osbornei) in southern NSW. Most of his spare time is spent looking for and photographing wild herps.

Sebastián Lenz (Undergraduate research project student)

Sebastián is completing his Bachelor of Marine Biology at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His undergraduate research project, co-supervised by Prof. Jhoann Canto (Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile) and myself, focuses on characterizing three species of Chilean grenadier fish (Coelorhincus) using geometric morphometrics and exploring the existence of sub-species within their latitudinal distribution. He is a scuba diver who enjoys swimming, board games, making music, and being outdoors.

Maxime Weisse (Undergraduate research intern)

Maxime is completing his undergraduate degree in Biotechnology at the University of Lorraine (ENSAIA) in France. He is currently undertaking a research internship in the Biodiversity Evolution Lab performing molecular work that will help understand the diversity of Liolaemus lizards in South America. The internship is also an opportunity for him to discover Australia and its wildlife, which has always fascinated him. He likes spending his spare time drawing, playing saxophone, playing volleyball and travelling.

Academic lineage

My former supervisor and eternal mentor Scott Keogh traced back our PhD lineage which includes academic ancestors like Joseph Grinnell (hugely important in developing ecological niche theory) and Georges Cuvier (one of fathers of palaeontology). Check the lineage here. Here is a photo of four generations, left to right is my academic grand father (Rick Shine), father (Scott Keogh), great grand father (Harold Heatwhole) and me!