Francesco Giannelli defended his PhD on “The role of expansion dynamics in shaping genetic diversity and load accumulation: insights from two Lessepsian invaders” at the Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy, in May 2025. He investigated how expansion dynamics affect neutral and deleterious genetic diversity.
In September, he joined the Centre and Carina Schlebusch’s Lab in Uppsala. Francesco has experience working with multiple animal species and in various evolutionary contexts, and specialises in forward simulations with SLiM, particularly in continuous-space modelling. His current project aims to explore the expansion of Bantu-speaking populations in sub-Saharan Africa, integrating genomic, linguistic, and spatial data.
