TARKHNISHVILI, David
Ilia State University/Tbilisi
david_tarkhnishvili@iliauni.edu.geDavid Tarkhnishvili
graduated from Tbilisi State University (Biology, zoology) (1982). PhD in Ecology from Research Inst. of Ecology, Ural Sci. Center at Sverdlovsk (pres. Ekaterinsburg), Russia, 1987. Research – interspecific competition of amphibians. Field ecologist with the experience since early 1980s. Research and publications in field of population ecology and genetics of different organisms, from amphibians and lizards to humans, speciation, phylogeny and biogeography, exploring relict areas of the Caucasus. Geographic area of work – largely Caucasus. The most important scientific findings: discovery of presence of at least three distinct relict areas in the Western Caucasus, by means of phylogeographic methods; finding inter-specific gene introgression patterns in different species of the Caucasian rock lizards; exploring potential of speciation within lizard parthenogens by means of backcrosses with paternal species; exploring importance of physical environment in the genetic differentiation of human populations in the Caucasus. Work experience: Tbilisi State University, Vietnam Tropical Center (1990), Bangor University, UK (1996-1997, post-doctoral fellow), Zoological Research Institute and Museum Al. Koenig, Bonn, Germany (1998; 1999-2003; post-doctoral fellow, researcher). Over 100 published research papers, nearly half in the international peer-review journals. Employed at Ilia State University since 2006, professor, dean of the school of Life Sciences (2006-2010), director of the Institute of Ecology (2010-present), dean of the School of Science and Engineering – since 2015. Full list of scientific publications at https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=EbTRHQYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate