Dr Gregory Maes ~ Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Gregory Maes did his postgraduate training at the University of Leuven (Belgium) on population and conservation genetics of aquatic organisms, focusing on exploited and endangered species such as eels, flatfishes, pikes, hybridogenetic frogs and polyploid invasive carps. He then spent 6 years doing various postdocs examining the applications of population⁄conservation genomics approaches to exploited freshwater and marine fishes at various spatio-temporal scales.

His main interest lies in multidisciplinary connectivity assessments and the genomic basis of fisheries induced evolution. Over the past 10 years he published more than 75 research papers and four book chapters in various fields, ranging from evolutionary biology, population genetics/genomics, conservation genetics, phylogeography, aquaculture genetics, metagenomics to ecotoxicogenomics of aquatic organisms. For an up to date full publication list, please visit my ResearcherID page: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/C-5450-2008

As a senior lecturer in Evolutionary and Applied Genetics at JCU (Adjunct since January 2016), he applies various concepts developed on temperate species to tropical systems.

These include:

1. Applied Genomic tool development and predictive modelling approaches for NGS-based diagnostics, natural population characterisation, sustainable harvesting and robust breeding initiatives (Applied Genomics)

2. Genetic improvement of aquatic organisms and genomic consequences of the interaction between farmed and natural populations (Aquaculture Genomics)

3. Conservation genomics and traceability of natural exploited populations at various spatial scales (SeaScape & Fisheries Genomics)

4. Evolutionary and phenotypic consequences of exploitation at various temporal scales (Conservation Paleogenomics)

5. Marine invasion biology and ecosystem quality assessment (Invasion and Environmental Genomics)

6. Environmental DNA (eDNA genomics) and Microbial community (Microbiome) analyses in various organisms (Metagenomics)

Since January 2016 he now holds a double affiliation, as Adjunct Senior Lecturer at JCU and Senior project developer and manager at the KULeuven (Leuven, Belgium).  

At the KU Leuven Genomics Core (www.genomicscore.be), my main responsibilities are the conceptualization, development and management of innovative research projects in the fields of Health Genomics, Personalized Medicine and Molecular NGS diagnotics (pre-implantation/natal), plant and animal breeding genomics, translational genomics, metagenomics, fisheries/aquaculture forensics and evolutionary genomics, using various sequencing technologies and Bioinformatics Tools. 

Interests

Research

• Gregory Maes is mainly interested in conservation and population genomic approaches enabling the understanding of connectivity, demographic resilience and potential for local adaptation in natural freshwater and marine fish populations. To achieve this he is using various research tools, such as morphometrics, genomics, otolith microchemistry, hydrodynamic-genetic modelling and geovisualisation techniques. He is increasingly working towards the implementation and integration of genetic tools into management decisions to help the sustainable exploitation of natural resources (e.g. fisheries and aquaculture), while simultaneously safeguarding biodiversity from the ecosystem to the gene level.

Teaching

• Teaching is an important responsibility of a faculty member. Gregory Maes views teaching and mentoring (at MSc and PhD level) as a central part of his academic job: training new generation of students to approach the field of aquaculture, genomics, genetics, evolutionary biology, molecular ecology and evolutionary ecotoxicology in a comprehensive way. He also puts much emphasis on the awareness of the evolutionary fingerprint of human selection pressure on farmed and natural populations, which provides him with a great sense of accomplishment and an opportunity to transfer the knowledge acquired in his current and future research activity. I currently coordinate or teach in basic level (1st year), ecological (2nd, 5th year), conservation (3rd, 5th year) and aquaculture (3rd, 5th year) genetics courses.

Experience

• 2016 to present - Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Applied Genomics, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2016 to present - Senior project developer and manager (Genomics Core), KU Leuven | UZ Leuven-Genomics Core (Leuven, Belgium)
• 2015 to 2016 - Senior Lecturer (accelerated promotion) in Applied Genomics, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2013 to 2014 - Lecturer in Genetics, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2010 to 2013 - Senior Post-doctoral Scientist and Lecturer, KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)
• 2010 - Post-doctoral exchange fellow, Université de Laval (Québec, Canada)
• 2006 to 2009 - Junior Post-doctoral Scientist, KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)
• 2006 - Post-doctoral exchange fellow (ESF-Congen, University of Turku (Turku, Finland)
• 2001 to 2005 - PhD Student, KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)
• 1999 to 2000 - Post-graduate researcher, KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)
• 1998 to 1999 - Post-graduate researcher, University of Florida (Florida Medical Entomology Lab) (Vero Beach, Florida)
• 1998 - Post-graduate researcher, University of Padova (Padova, Italy)
• 1997 - Undergraduate exchange researcher, University of Cork (Cork, Ireland)

Research Disciplines

• Ecology (3103)
• Zoology (3109)
• Genetics (3105)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Expanding knowledge (2801)

Awards

• 2016 - OECD travel award for invited speakers to attend the World Fisheries Conference, Busan, South Korea. Symposium: 1. GENOMICS FOR IMPROVED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION: HAVE THE PROMISES BEEN FULFILLED?
• 2010 - Travel award from the Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) Conference, San Diego, USA

Fellowships

• 2009 to 2013 - Senior Post-doctoral fellowship (FWO, KU Leuven, Belgium)
• 2010 - Post-doctoral exchange fellowship (Université de Laval, Canada)
• 2006 to 2009 - Junior Post-doctoral fellowship (FWO, KU Leuven, Belgium)
• 2006 - Post-doctoral exchange fellowship (ESF- ConGen, University of Turku, Finland)
• 2005 to 2006 - Post-doctoral fellowship (KU Leuven, Belgium)
• 2001 to 2005 - PhD student fellowship (IWT, Belgium)
• 1998 to 1999 - Post-graduate research fellowship (University of Florida, USA)

Memberships

• 2014 - Member of the Australasian Genomic Technologies Association (AGTA)
• 2014 - Member of the Australian Bioinformatics And Computational Biology Society (ABACBS)
• 2014 - Member of the Australian Bioinformatics Network (ABN)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Huerlimann R, Cowley J, Wade N, Wang Y, Kasinadhuni N, Chan C, Jabbari J, Siemering K, Gordon L, Tinning M, Montenegro J, Maes G, Sellars M, Coman G, McWilliam S, Zenger K, Khatkar M, Raadsma H, Donovan D, Krishna G and Jerry D (2022) Genome assembly of the Australian black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) reveals a novel fragmented IHHNV EVE sequence. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 12 (4).
• Deryckere A, Styfhals R, Elagoz A, Maes G and Seuntjens E (2021) Identification of neural progenitor cells and their progeny reveals long distance migration in the developing octopus brain. eLife, 10.
• Vandamme S, Raeymaekers J, Maes G, Cottenie K, Calboli F, Diopere E and Volckaert F (2021) Reconciling seascape genetics and fisheries science in three codistributed flatfishes. Evolutionary Applications, 14 (2). pp. 536-552
• Bourillon B, Acou A, Trancart T, Belpaire C, Covaci A, Bustamante P, Faliex E, Amilhat E, Malarvannan G, Virag L, Aarestrup K, Bervoets L, Boisneau C, Boulenger C, Gargan P, Becerra-Jurado G, Lobon-Cervia J, Maes G, Pedersen M, Poole R, Sjoberg N, Wickstrom H, Walker A, Righton D and Feunteun E (2020) Assessment of the quality of European silver eels and tentative approach to trace the origin of contaminants - a European overview. Science of the Total Environment, 743.
• Huerlimann R, Maes G, Maxwell M, Mobli M, Launikonis B, Jerry D and Wade N (2020) Multi-species transcriptomics reveals evolutionary diversity in the mechanisms regulating shrimp tail muscle excitation-contraction coupling. Gene, 752.
• Devloo-Delva F, Maes G, Hernández S, Mcallister J, Gunasekera R, Grewe P, Thomson R and Feutry P (2019) Accounting for kin sampling reveals genetic connectivity in Tasmanian and New Zealand school sharks, Galeorhinus galeus. Ecology and Evolution, 9 (8). pp. 4465-4472
• Devloo-Delva F, Huerlimann R, Chua G, Matley J, Heupel M, Simpfendorfer C and Maes G (2019) How does marker choice affect your diet analysis: comparing genetic markers and digestion levels for diet metabarcoding of tropical-reef piscivores. Marine and Freshwater Research, 70 (1). pp. 8-18
• Infante-Villamil S, Huerlimann R, Condon K, Maes G and Jerry D (2019) Bacterial signatures of productivity decay in Penaeus monodon ponds infected with PirA toxin. Aquaculture, 511.
• Pazmiño D, van Herderden L, Simpfendorfer C, Junge C, Donnellan S, Hoyos-Padilla E, Duffy C, Huveneers C, Gillanders B, Butcher P and Maes G (2019) Introgressive hybridisation between two widespread sharks in the east Pacific region. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 136. pp. 119-127
• Zarrella I, Herten K, Maes G, Tai S, Yang M, Seuntjens E, Ritschard E, Zach M, Styfhals R, Sanges R, Simakov O, Ponte G and Fiorito G (2019) The survey and reference assisted assembly of the Octopus vulgaris genome. Scientific Data, 6.
• Diopere E, Vandamme S, Hablutzel P, Cariani A, Van Houdt J, Rijnsdorp A, Tinti F, FishPopTrace Consortium , Volckaert F and Maes G (2018) Seascape genetics of a flatfish reveals local selection under high levels of gene flow. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 75 (2). pp. 675-689
• do Prado F, Vera M, Hermida M, Bouza C, Pardo B, Vilas R, Blanco A, Fernández C, Maroso F, Maes G, Turan C, Volckaert F, Taggart J, Carr A, Ogden R, Nielsen E, Aquatrace c and Martínez P (2018) Parallel evolution and adaptation to environmental factors in a marine flatfish: implications for fisheries and aquaculture management of the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus). Evolutionary Applications, 11 (8). pp. 1322-1341

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 97+ research outputs authored by Dr Gregory Maes from 2002 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Conservation Genomics and Ecology of True Sea Snakes (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Intestinal and environmental microbiome community analysis in farmed black tiger and banana shrimps as a tool for prawn health and production biomonitoring (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

• Causes and consequences of natural hybridisation among coral reef butterflyfishes (Chaetodon: Chaetodontidae) (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.