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Karl J. Duffy
I am an Associate Professor in Environmental and Applied Botany at the Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II. I am a plant population ecologist interested in understanding the geographical context of how mutualists influence plant fitness.
Brief bio
I completed my PhD with Jane C. Stout at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, where I worked on the reproductive biology and conservation of rare Irish orchids.
After my PhD, I moved to South Africa to work as a postdoctoral fellow with Steven D. Johnson at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, with a focus on understanding mechanisms underlying plant fecundity, and how pollinators influence plant species distributions.
I returned to Europe to work as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow with Hans Jacquemyn at KU Leuven, Belgium on the biogeography of belowground mutualists, orchid mycorrhizal fungi, and the influence of climate change on plant distributions.
I serve as an Associate Editor for both the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society and Journal of Ecology.
I value honest, rigorous peer review, hence I have acted as an ad hoc reviewer for various funding agencies and leading journals including; American Journal of Botany, Annals of Botany, Ecology Letters, Evolution, Journal of Biogeography, Journal of Ecology, Mycorrhiza, New Phytologist, Oikos, Proceedings B.
Teaching
In addition to my ongoing research in plant ecology and biogeography, I enjoy teaching the following courses:
Botany (10 CFU/ECTS) to first-year students as part of the undergraduate degree programme in Biology (P30) in the II semester [lectures in Italian].
Algal Biology (6 CFU/ECTS) as part of the international Masters degree program in Marine Biology and Aquaculture (P59) in the I semester [lectures in English].
Mycology and Lichenology (6 CFU/ECTS) as an optional course as part of the undergraduate degree programme in Biology in the I semester (P30) [lectures in Italian].
Sara Pasciuto
PhD student, 2024 - present
Sara has an MSc degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Naples Federico II, where she investigated the population genetics of Epipactis orchids found in anthropomorphic habitats. For her PhD, Sara is working on understanding the ecological interactions among mycorrhizal fungi and how the outcomes of these interactions may influence plant fitness. She is particularly interested in culturing orchid mycorrhizal fungi and understanding the physiology and biogeography of Mediterranean mycorrhizal fungi.
Visiting PhD students
Yumna Nageen is PhD student based in Jana Jersáková's lab at the University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. Yumna is working on the relationships between fungal specificity and soil characteristics on orchid seed germination and fitness.
Niki Pirovalaki is a PhD student based in John Halley's lab at the University of Ioannina, Greece. Niki is working on how mycorrhizal fungi and soil nutrients can explain the distribution of Mediterranean orchids
BSc students
Kevin Romano, BSc intern, 2025 - present, working on fungal isolation and the use of fungi in filtration systems.
Giustina Caiazza BSc intern 2025 - present, working on mycorrhizal fungi and their interactions with higher plants.
Marco Civale, BSc thesis student, 2025 - present, working on marine fungi and their interactions with algae and vascular plants.
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