Landscape and Climate Change Genomics

Earth observations can reconstruct climate change trajectories globally, such as tracking the recurrence of drought events or detecting anomalous changes in sea surface temperature. (credits: European Space Agency).
By comparing the genetic diversity of crops exposed to climate change worldwide, we can identify key genes that support sustainable adaptation of agriculture.
Genomic analyses reveal the legacy of climate change on natural populations, for example how coral reefs are adapting to increasingly frequent marine heatwaves.

In the Landscape and Climate Change Genomics group, we investigate the impacts of global change by combining Earth observations with genomics analyses. Satellite earth observations allow us to monitor environmental stressors across diverse ecosystems worldwide. Through genomics, we assess the lasting impact these stressors have on wild and domesticated species.

Our team develops computational tools to facilitate the monitoring of genetic diversity in species facing global change (Genes from Space). These tools can be applied globally to assess extinction risks across various ecosystems, from Swiss forests to oceanic coral reefs.

We are also interested in discovering genetic traits that help species adapt to climate change, such as genes enabling agricultural crops to withstand drier climates (SNSF Spark project).

Current projects

Genes from Space

A macrogenetic outlook on crop climate adaptation (SNSF Spark)

Can genetic diversity in the oceans be monitored from space? (UZH Postdoc Grant)

The team

Dr. Oliver Selmoni (group leader)

Oliver's research combines satellite observations and genomic analyses to investigate the impact of climate change on biodiversity.

Simon Pahls

Simon is working on the "Genes from Space" project, where he is implementing the framework that uses Earth observations to support genetic diversity monitoring in an interactive tool.

Sophie Schipoff

Sophie’s research explores the status of marine biodiversity, leveraging satellite observations to track trends in the population sizes of marine vertebrates.

Naroa Schweizer

Naroa's research on coral reef fish uses integrated satellite and genomic data to identify genetic adaptation signatures, providing insight into how fish populations are responding to human-induced global change stressors.

William Wallisch

William’s research focuses on optimizing the monitoring of genetic diversity in wild species through demographic simulations in combination with satellite habitat detections

Former collaborators