Yorick Lambreghts

My research focuses on the evolution of sociality in lizards with a particular interest in the role of kin recognition. In collaboration with Prof. Martin Whiting and Dr Oliver Griffith, I am currently working at Macquarie University in Sydney on a method to make modifications to the genome of Australian lizards using state-of-the-art techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9. Once gene editing techniques have successfully been established, they will open the door for a whole suit of new opportunities for research on social evolution/recognition, as well as virtually every other aspect of Australian reptile biology.

During my PhD, I focussed on kin recognition itself, its importance in the early evolution of sociality and how it was refined as social systems became increasingly complex. While I was based at the University of Tasmania in Hobart (BEER group), my field and experimental work took place at Macquarie University in Sydney (Lizardlab). I am currently working on getting this work published!

Before moving to Australia I completed both my Master’s and Bachelor’s at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. During this time I studied animal personalities in birds for my Master’s thesis and took part in a project on urbanisation and island effects in lizards.