Dr Juliano Morimoto

Biography

• BSc in Biological Sciences – Federal University of Paraná (Brazil) (2009-2013)
• DPhil in Zoology – University of Oxford (UK) (2013-2016)
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney (Australia) (2016-2017)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Macquarie University (Australia) (2017-2019)
• Lecturer, University of Aberdeen (UK) (2020 – 2022)
• Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen (UK) (2022 – current)

Prizes and Awards

Excellence Awards 2024: Best undegraduate supervisor

Fellow of the College for Life Sciences (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin)  (2024)

Member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland (2022 – 2027)

Riemann Fellowship by the Institute for Differential Geometry (2022)

Young Researcher in Entomology Award VISTA Foundation (2022)

Royal Entomological Society Early Career Entomologist Award (2021)

Research Overview

• Nutritional Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Statistics applied to Animal Biology

Current Research

Nutrition is key to animal fitness and is a major factor underpinning evolution. My research aims to better understanding how animals interact with their food and the physiological, behavioural, and evolutionary consequences of these interactions to individuals, groups, and species. I am particularly interested in insects. There are three streams of research that I develop in my group: theoretical, empirical, and applied. I am also heavily involved in Outreach activities in Latin America, with opportunities to expand to other countries and continents (see below).

1) Theoretical

I develop new frameworks to analyse multidimensional nutritional data. To do this, I employ different statistical methods such as Machine Learning, Reinforcement Learning, and Vectors.

2) Empirical

My empirical research is based on testing and expanding previous theoretical models in evolutionary ecology. My main model organism for empirical work is the fly Drosophila melanogaster, although I am interested in the biology of most animals (especially insects).

3) Applied

In 2020, I started a new stream of research focusing on policies to guarantee food security and ecosystem health using insects as the study case. New projects include (but are not limited to) (i) revisiting worldwide ecosystem conservation policies in relation to insects and (ii) developing practical apparatus for insect larval growth for feeding livestock.

Please contact me if you have an interesting idea and I will be happy to discuss personalised projects

Outreach

My goal is to support people to realise their dreams. To do that, I coordinate several outreach projects in Brazil aimed to stimulate at-risk and/or low-income students to apply and succeed at the University.

Most of my outreach projects have been funded by the Brazillian Research Council (CNPq). In 2016, the outreach teams visited more than 10 low-income schools in the South of Brazil, engaging with more than 500 pre-university students. In 2019, we launched our first e-book Geometria Poética (Poetic Geometry) to help students learn geometrical concepts in a easy and unorthodox way.

If you want to make an impact in the world, join us. I am always willing to discuss new ideas for ways in which we can influence people.

Knowledge Exchange

Geometria Poetica ebook: www.geometriapoetica.com 

Funding and Grants

2022 – 2025   BBSRC Responsive Mode. Dietary optimisation for male fertilisation success and healthy reproductive ageing. (Co-I) (£980,000) with Dr Stuart Wigby (University of Liverpool, UK)

2022 – 2023    Brazilian National Research Council (CAPES). (PI) (£8,000)

BBSRC International Partnership. Partner: Prof Maria Sunnerhagen (Linköping University, Sweden). (PI) (£55,000).

NERC Discipline-Hopping (Interdisciplinary grant). (PI) (£10,000)

Riemann Fellowship Award (Interdisciplinary grant). Differential Geometry applied to Nutrition. (Fellow) (£5,000)

NERC Research Experience Placement. Using topological and geometrical analysis to gain insights into how species respond to changing environments. £17,890                       

BBSRC Mitigation Fund. (PI) (£40,000)                       

Royal Society International Exchange. with Linköping University (Sweden).  (PI). (£3,000)

Saltire Emerging Researcher Award. Interdisciplinary approach to study complex nutritional data: merging differential geometry, ecology, and nutrition. (PI). (£5,000)

2021 – 2022   Instruct-ERIC. Optimising expression and purification of an insect GPCR for future control of pests and disease vectors. (PI) (€5,000)

                        Royal Society Start-up Grant. More larvae, more waste, less food: unravelling the interaction between larval crowding and toxicity during development of flies (PI) (£20,000)

                        NERC Research Experience Placement. £17,890

2020 – 2021   Knowledge Exchange & Commercialization. (PI) (£5,000)

2018 – 2019   Macquarie University Strategic Funds (Internal). Does mum really know what’s best? Unravelling mother–offspring nutritional conflict in flies. (PI) (£1,000)

2017 – 2018   Sydney Research Excellence Initiative. University of Sydney (Internal). Linking nutrition with systemic and oral health. (Co-I) (£120,000)

2016 ­– 2020   Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd (HIA). Raising Qfly Sterile Insect Technique to world standard (Theme 2A) (Co-I) (£200,000)

Teaching Responsibilities

MA1515 Maths for Scientists

EG1011 Maths for Engineering

BI3505 Behavioural Biology

BI2510 Comparative Physiology I

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

Race Equality Spotlight Series

Tutoring and Mentoring UG and PG students

BI3010 Statistical Analysis of Biological Data (Guest Lecturer and Assessment on Data Storytelling)