Dr. João Vitor S. Messeder

Welcome!

I am an evolutionary ecologist and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech, working with Dr. Haldre Rogers. My research integrates phylogenomics, functional ecology, and network theory to understand how plant traits evolve and shape ecological dynamics through plant–animal interactions.

I am originally from Brazil and earned my Ph.D. in Ecology from The Pennsylvania State University as a Fulbright Scholar under the mentorship of Dr. Tomás Carlo and Dr. Hong Ma. I also hold a Master’s degree in Plant Biology and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), where I worked with Dr. Fernando Silveira and Dr. Tadeu Guerra.

Since 2016, my research has focused on the ecology and evolution of frugivory and seed dispersal, bridging processes across biological scales—from the evolution of fruit traits to their ecological consequences for plant–frugivore networks and community assembly.

Thanks for visiting, and stay tuned to learn more about my research!