Research Collaborations

PROJECT COLLABORATION WITH PROF. ALFRIED VOGLER OF IMPERIAL COLLEGE AND NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM ON MOLECULAR BIODIVERSITY OF BEETLES

• SITE-100 project is up an international collaboration to survey high biodiversity sites from around the world for a synthesis of insect(beetle) diversity and evolution (please visit www.site100.org
• The SITE-100 project is headed by Prof. Alfried Vogler of Imperial College and national History Museum, London, United Kingdom. The project includes using standard protocols for beetle field sampling, DNA analysis and barcoding, phylogenetic analysis from mitochondrial and nuclear genomes.
• Currently SITE-100 project have major sites in the Neotropics and Asia, but are particularly keen for similar work in Africa, for a more complete global analysis.
• Prof. Iyiola O.A. (an expert in molecular biodiversity and genetics from the Department of Zoology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria) is the SITE-100 project coordinator in charge of supervision of field-related exercises in Nigeria. 
• This collaboration began in 2024 and involves selection of potential forests, contacting and cooperating with other potential local researchers, monitoring sampling exercise, personnel training, and co-authorship of data generated form the samples collection for publication in a very high impact factor journal usually Q1 journal.  among others.

• The first field trip was held in Omo forest, Ogun state Nigeria and University of Ilorin campus between May – August 2024.

• In continuation of research collaboration, this year 2025, Dr. Iqbal Zafar, a co-investigator of SITE-100 project has travelled all the way from China for a research visit to Nigeria. 

• Almost 60% of the collected samples have been processed till date. Data analyses of this samples from Nigeria are insightful for biodiversity monitoring, conservation and environmental management.

• Ultimately, the data can be used to parameterise models of diversity across geographic and temporal scales, for a heat map of global species diversity of the Insecta and to study the effects of environmental change.

• Biodiversity studies are therefore usually multi-year projects to monitor how anthropogenic factors shape beetle diversity. Based on this, another field trip is planned this year around the same time (May-August 2025) to further understand distribution and associated factors.