Dr. Jan Hackel

Jan Hackel
Jan Hackel

Research Fellow

Contact information

+49 6421 28-23378 jan.hackel@biologie 1 Karl-von-Frisch-Straße 8
35032 Marburg
K|05 Institutsgebäude (Room: -1338)

Organizational unit

Philipps-Universität Marburg Biologie (Fb17) Biodiversität Biodiversität der Pflanzen (AG Zizka)

My research area is the evolutionary biogeography of plants and fungi: I want to understand how patterns of distribution were shaped by speciation, extinction and dispersal. I use fieldwork, molecular lab work and modelling to study these processes.

Web profiles: ORCID | Google Scholar

Academic CV

  • since 2023: Research fellow – Universität Marburg
  • 2018-2022: Research fellow (Future Leader Fellowship in Plant and Fungal Science) – Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
  • 2017-2018: Assistant lecturer (Attaché temporaire d'enseignement et de recherche) – Université Toulouse III, France
  • 2014-2017: PhD studies – Université Toulouse III
  • 2012-2014: MSc. Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution – Université Toulouse III
  • 2008-2012: BSc. Biology – Universität Tübingen, Germany

Teaching

  • Advanced course Plant diversity, BSc. + teaching
  • Advanced course Biogeography and macroevolution of plants, MSc.
  • Profile course Flora of Marburg in the age of citizen science and Web 4.0, MSc.
  • Specialisation course Diversity and evolution of plants and associated organisms, BSc.
  • Specialisation course Plant diversity, MSc.

More details on our group's teaching page.

Research priorities

Rocky grassland with four people; mountains in the background
Jan Hackel

Grasses and grasslands

Grasses (family Poaceae) dominate roughly 40% of global land surface. I have worked, among other things, on the origins of grasslands in Madagascar. Currently, I continue work on the grasses on Madagascar and on phylogenomics of the grass family.

Graphic showing section of a phylogenetic tree
Jan Hackel

Macroevolutionary processes

Distribution patterns emerge through speciation, extinction and dispersal. These macroevolutionary processes can be reconstructed using phylogenetic trees. I am interested in particular in the factors affecting the dispersal of lineages.

Box with collected specimens of mushrooms
Jan Hackel

Plant-symbiotic fungi

Close symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi are of biogeographic interest as the distribution of both partners is interdependent. I have worked on the biogeography of ectomycorrhizal fungi in the Neotropics. I am also interested in fungal endophytes of grasses.

Selected publications

See also my full list of publications on Google Scholar.

Editorial activity

Public outreach

Blog articles for Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew:

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