Faculty and Research

Biology

Biography

Melanie is a marine evolutionary biologist specialising in (epi)genomics and transcriptomics in fishes. She received her BSc, MSc, and PhD from the University of Kiel, Germany, where she studied the compensatory effects of transgenerational plasticity on climate change-related stress. As a postdoc, she shifted her focus from micro- to macroevolutionary scales, investigating rapid speciation processes in Caribbean reef fishes (Hypoplectrus spp.), first at the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, UK, and later during a fellowship between the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research in Germany. At UCF, Melanie is part of the “DISKER” project, which maps the spatial distribution of dispersal events (dispersal kernels) to predict population dynamics and improve marine spatial planning efforts.

Publication Highlights

  • Baltazar‐Soares M, Heckwolf MJ, Hoeppner MP, Karell P, Wright D, Nilsson JÅ, Brommer JE (2026) Transcriptomics Reveal Molecular Signatures of a Resolved Sexual Conflict and Potential Association With Colour Polymorphism in Tawny Owls. Molecular Ecology, 35(7), e70338.
  • Helmkampf M, Coulmance F, Heckwolf MJ, Acero PA, Balard A, Bista I, Dominguez OD, Frandsen PB, Torres-Oliva M, Santaquiteria A, Tavera J, Victor BC, Robertson DR, Betancur-R R, McMillan WO, Puebla O (2025) Radiation with reproductive isolation in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal. Science Advances, 11(30), eadt0973.
  • Heckwolf MJ, Gismann J, González‐Santoro M, Coulmance F, Fuß J, McMillan WO, Puebla O (2025) Differences in Colour Pattern, Behaviour and Gene Expression in the Brain Suggest Divergent Camouflage Strategies in Sympatric Reef Fish Species. Molecular Ecology, 34(11), e17748.
  • Baltazar-Soares M, Balard A,  Heckwolf MJ (2024) Epigenetic diversity and the evolutionary potential of wild populations. Evolutionary Applications, 17(10), e70011.
  • Balard A, Baltazar-Soares M, Eizaguirre C,  Heckwolf MJ (2024) An epigenetic toolbox for conservation biologists. EvolutionaryApplications, 17(6), e13699.
  • Chain FJJ, Meyer BS, Heckwolf MJ, Franzenburg S, Eizaguirre C, Reusch TBH (2024) Epigenetic diversity of genes with copy number variations among natural populations of the three-spined stickleback. Evolutionary Applications, 17(7), e13753.
  • Heckwolf MJ, Morim T, Riccioli F, Baltazar-Soares M (2021) Fresh start after rough rides: understanding patterns of genetic differentiation upon human-mediated translocations. Biological Invasions, 23(12), 3625-3639.
  • Heckwolf MJ, Meyer BS (2021) The time is ripe for functional genomics: Can epigenetic changes mediate reproductive timing? Molecular Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/mec.16063.
  • Heckwolf MJ, Peterson A, Jänes H, Horne P, Künne J, Liversage K, Sajeva M, Reusch TBH, Kotta J (2021) From ecosystems to socio-economic benefits: a systematic review of coastal ecosystem services in the Baltic Sea. Science of The Total Environment, 755, 142565.
  • Heckwolf MJ, Meyer BS, Häsler R, Höppner MP, Eizaguirre C, Reusch TBH (2020) Two different epigenetic information channels in wild three-spined sticklebacks are involved in salinity adaptation. Science Advances, 6(12), eaaz1138.
  • Filker S, Kühner S, Heckwolf MJ, Dierking J, Stoeck T (2019) A fundamental difference between macrobiota and microbial eukaryotes: protistan plankton has a species maximum in the freshwater‐marine transition zone of the Baltic Sea. Environmental microbiology, 21(2), 603-617.
  • Heckwolf MJ, Meyer BS, Döring T, Eizaguirre C, Reusch, TBH (2018) Transgenerational plasticity and selection shape the adaptive potential of sticklebacks to salinity change. Evolutionary Applications, 11(10), 1873-1885.