Agrotechnology

Cecile Berthouly-Salazar

Cecile Berthouly-Salazar
Department of Botany and Zoology
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Biography

Ph.D. in Ecological and Evolutionary biology, Doctoral School ABIES-Life Science Engineering, CIRAD & INRA. Thesis: Characterisation of the cattle, buffalo and chicken populations in the Northern Vietnamese province of Ha Giang-BIODIVA Project. Director: Prof. Dr. Etienne Verrier, Dr. Jean-Charles Maillard.M.Sc. agr.: Freshwater and Marine Ecology, CNRS - University of Science Toulouse-Montpellier 2. Master Thesis: Eutrophisation effect on aquatic microorganism. Director: Dr Bezhad Mostajir. Analysing the effect of Phosphate and Nitrate input on microorganism. Training course on Marine Ecosystems and Phylogeny in Oceanographic Department in Villefranche sur Mer, France. B.Sc. agr.: Natural Sciences specialized on Genetics, Animal Behaviour and Ecology- Universities of Toulouse, Montpellier and Jussieu (Paris VI).

Research Interest

She is a population geneticist and my research interests lie in the field of evolutionary and landscape genetics.She like to research and understand which factors, external or internal to the species, influence its genetic make-up. During her PhD,she has worked on conservation of Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) in Vietnamese remote areas.she used phenotypic and genotypic descriptions to characterize local domestic breeds on five domestic species (cattle, swamp buffalo, goat, pigs and chickens). She highlighted the importance of fine scale sampling approaches for enlighten admixture and hybrids processes. In addition, she has demonstrated that ethnological social structure strongly influences the genetic pattern of local domestic breeds. Her current research aims to use population genetics tools to increase our understanding in dispersal pattern and adaptive capacity of alien invasive species. Despite a founding effect, and therefore a limited standing genetic variation, alien invasive species have successfully established. Understanding such process could provide key knowledge for conservation of small population size as well as for pest control. Model species of this research include two out of three of the world’s worst invasive birds: the Common myna (Acridotheres tristis) and the Common startling (Sturnus vulgaris).