Felipe Lorenz Simões

Project title: Phylogeography and ecofisiology of Antarctic insects

Felipe’s main scientific interests developed while he was an undergraduate and Masters student, and focused on the taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of Neotropical insects (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae); these studies have resulted in several publications in the last five years. Felipe has also contributed to collaborative research in the geography, geophysics, and microbiology of Antarctica (at King George Island), and he participated in two expeditions with the Brazilian Antarctic Programme (PROANTAR) in 2009 and 2010. Currently, Felipe is midway through the first year of his PhD, which focuses on the phylogeography and ecophysiology of Antarctic, sub-Antarctic, and South American dipterans and coleopterans. This project is the result of a co-operation between the British Antarctic Survey, University of Cambridge and Cambridge Trust, University of Birmingham (UK), Universidad de Magallanes (Chile), and the Brazilian National Council for Research and Development (CNPq). Sub-Antarctic beetles and flies occurring on the Antarctic Peninsula, Atlantic sub-Antarctic islands, and their close relatives in southern South America, form the core of Felipe’s research plans, and the opportunity to collect fresh material of these through the ACE cruise would provide an important contribution to his work. Felipe’s previous degrees include a Bachelor in Biological Sciences at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, and a Master in Animal Biology at UFRGS, Brazil.