T. (Thomas) Hackl, PhD
![Profielfoto van T. (Thomas) Hackl, PhD](/staff/t.hackl/photo.png?unique=1653244574480.jpg)
Research interests
How do organisms adapt, differentiate and diversify? How are they shaping and are shaped by the communities and ecosystems they occur in? Addressing these question to to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying the immense diversity of life is my overarching research interest.
To do so, I study organisms across all domains of life (exotic viruses, unicellular eukaryotic hosts, endophytic fungi, carnivorous plants, open-ocean cyanobacteria and coastal soil microbiomes) focusing on processes that accelerate evolution in these systems, such as horizontal gene transfer via mobile genetic elements, viruses or vesicles.
For my research, I harness the power of genomics and big data, leveraging cutting-edge sequencing technologies and devising workflows and software to maximize their use. Moreover, I am developing tools for data exploration, integration and interpretation with a focus on genomics data visualization.
Combining these efforts, I aim to gain new insights into the concert of ecology and evolution that brings forth the wondrous living world around us.