Rate My Professor Alexandre Fournier-Level

Alexandre Fournier-Level is an Associate Professor in the School of BioSciences within the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne, where he leads the Adaptive Evolution Lab. His research specializes in quantitative genetics and evolutionary biology, investigating how organisms develop adaptive strategies to environmental challenges such as climate change and pesticide exposure. Employing a combination of experimental evolution, population genomics, and computational modeling, his lab uses model species including Arabidopsis thaliana, Drosophila melanogaster, ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), and native Australian fruits. Ongoing projects focus on leveraging genomics to explore medicinal and agricultural potential in native fruits, understanding the rapid evolution of resistance in agricultural pests and weeds, and developing climate change-proof strategies for species restoration and invasive control while preserving genetic diversity.

Fournier-Level completed his PhD at SupAgro Montpellier, examining the genetic basis of grape berry color using quantitative and population genetics. He then carried out postdoctoral research in the Schmitt Lab at Brown University on local adaptation to climate in plants, developing expertise in structural equation modeling of correlated traits and life-history modeling. Awarded a Human Frontier Science Program Long-Term Fellowship, he investigated the costs of climate adaptation on the evolution of insecticide resistance in Drosophila in the Robin Lab at the University of Melbourne. He subsequently launched his independent research program at the University of Melbourne's School of BioSciences. His scholarly impact is evidenced by over 3,300 citations on Google Scholar. Key publications include "Predicting the Evolutionary Dynamics of Seasonal Adaptation to Temperature Across a Latitudinal Gradient in Arabidopsis thaliana" (Current Biology, 2016), "Genomic and Transcriptomic Associations Identify a New Insecticide Resistance Trait in the California Mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus" (G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, 2016), "Multiple P450s and Variation in Neuronal Genes Underpins the Evolution of Resistance to Naphthoquinones in Drosophila" (Scientific Reports, 2017), "Rounding up the annual ryegrass genome: high-quality reference genome assembly for an agriculturally important weed" (Frontiers in Genetics, 2022), and "GWAS on multiple traits identifies mitochondrial ACONITASE3 as a candidate gene for the cold-induced inhibition of germination in Arabidopsis thaliana" (Plant Physiology, 2022).