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Jasper Dierick
Assistant academic staff / IMBRSea Coordination Team

Research interests:

  • Seagrass ecosystems
  • Reproductive and Dispersal Ecology
  • Population Genetics 
Contact Info
Email: Jasper.Dierick@UGent.be
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8210-4950
Education
BSc, Biology, Ghent university (2013)
MSc, Biology, Ghent University (2015)
PhD, Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (2025)
Research Question
How do reproduction and dispersal shape the resilience of seagrass meadows, and how can this knowledge guide their conservation and restoration? (PhD Research - VUB)

At Ghent University, I contribute to the IMBRSea MSc programme (International Master in Marine Biological Resources) and work as assistant academic staff in the Biology Department, supporting practical courses and field excursions.

My research (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) focuses on how reproduction and dispersal processes shape the establishment, maintenance, and connectivity of seagrass meadows (in the Indo-Pacific). I combine field sampling across Southeast Asia and Micronesia with genetic analyses to investigate patterns of sexual and asexual reproduction in different seagrass species and populations. I also use oceanographic modelling to understand how surface currents drive dispersal and connect populations across spatial scales. Overall, my work aims to uncover the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that sustain seagrass meadows and inform their conservation and restoration of these rapidly declining but ecologically important marine ecosystems.