Zexuan Zhao

I’m a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland, where I’ve been studying since 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Carlos Machado. My research focuses on the evolutionary genomics of Hymenoptera, using fig wasps (Chalcidoidea) to understand how genomes evolve under ecological and genomic constraints.

My dissertation examines how fig wasp genomes interact and co-evolve with transposable elements, with a particular focus on the evolution of pericentromeric heterochromatin and its consequences for the evolutionary trajectory of host genomes. More broadly, I’m interested in linking genome structure to evolutionary processes in non-model insects.