Samson Acoca-Pidolle
- Postdoctoral Researcher
Contact Info
1200 Sunnyside Avenue
Lawrence, KS 66045
Personal Links
Biography —
Faculty Sponsors: Drs. Lena Hileman and John Kelly
Samson received his PhD degree from the University of Montpellier (France). Since February 2025, he works as a postdoc in the Hileman Lab, with a secondment in Kelly's Lab, on genes involved in evolution from bee to hummingbird pollination in Penstemon virgatus and Penstemon barbatus.
Research —
My project focuses on understanding how changes in pollinators occur in plants, such as the shift from bumblebees to hummingbirds. This shift is correlated with the evolution of several floral traits. I am currently investigating the genetic basis of these evolutionary changes using QTL mapping and RNA sequencing techniques.
Selected Publications —
Acoca-Pidolle. Irreversible evolution of plant mating system easily triggered by pollinator declines. In review, EcoEvoRxiv, DOI: 10.32942/X2R93P.
Acoca-Pidolle S, Gauthier P, Cheptou P-O. 2025. Changes in pollen production, pollen heteromorphism and ovule production with increased selfing in Viola arvensis. Annals of Botany mcaf203.
Acoca‐Pidolle S, Gauthier P, Devresse L, Deverge Merdrignac A, Pons V, Cheptou P. 2024. Ongoing convergent evolution of a selfing syndrome threatens plant–pollinator interactions. New Phytologist 242: 717–726.
Selected Presentations —
Samson Acoca-Pidolle (2025), Selection of pollen heteromorphism in a mixed mating species. Oral communication at Botany 2025, Palm Springs, USA.
Samson Acoca-Pidolle (2025), Is it good enough to be the best of the worst: selection mode and irreversibility. Oral communication at Evolution 2025, Athens, USA.
Samson Acoca-Pidolle, Pierre-Olivier Cheptou (2024), Rapid evolution of selfing syndrome: dissecting links between reproductive traits and selfing. Oral communication at the Joint Congress of Evolution 2024, Montréal, Canada.
Samson Acoca-Pidolle, Pierre-Olivier Cheptou (2022), Back to the past: rapid adaptation in the context of pollinator decline? Oral communication at the joint meeting of the french, german and european societies of evolution & ecology (SFE2-GfÖ-EEF), Metz, France.
Awards & Honors —
Young Resercher Prize 2025, French Society for Ecology and Evolution (SFE2). For a remarkable publication of doctoral research: Acoca-Pidolle et al. (2024)