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Ecology and Evolution
Denmark
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
144
Citations
71861
World Ranking
42
National Ranking
1

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Denmark Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Denmark Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Denmark Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Denmark Leader Award
  • 2014 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

Overview

Eske Willerslev is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and has a significant body of research in biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. Their work spans several subfields including genetics, ecology, paleontology, molecular biology, and archaeology.

Their research topics include:

  • Forensic and Genetic Research
  • Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
  • Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
  • Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
  • Genetic diversity and population structure
  • Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research
  • Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

Notable recent publications include:

  • Population genomics of the Viking world, 2020, Nature
  • Ancient DNA analysis, 2021, Nature Reviews Methods Primers
  • A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA, 2022, Nature
  • Lake Sedimentary DNA Research on Past Terrestrial and Aquatic Biodiversity: Overview and Recommendations, 2021, Quaternary
  • Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics, 2021, Nature

Frequent co-authors in their publications are:

  • Martin Sikora
  • Morten E. Allentoft
  • Kristian Kristiansen
  • Fernando Racimo
  • Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen

The most common venues for their work include:

  • Nature
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Current Biology
  • Science
  • Nature Communications

Eske Willerslev has contributed to book publications through Cambridge University Press with the title The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited (2023) and Archaeopress Archaeology eBooks with Conversations in Human Evolution (2020).

Awards and recognitions include membership in the National Academy of Sciences since 2014 and membership in the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).

Best Publications

  • Environmental DNA - An emerging tool in conservation for monitoring past and present biodiversity

    Philip Francis Thomsen;Eske Willerslev

  • Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds

    Erich D. Jarvis;Siavash Mirarab;Andre J. Aberer;Bo Li;Bo Li;Bo Li

  • Towards next‐generation biodiversity assessment using DNA metabarcoding

    Pierre Taberlet;Eric Coissac;François Pompanon;Christian Brochmann

  • Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia

    Morten E. Allentoft;Martin Sikora;Karl-Göran Sjögren;Simon Rasmussen

  • Monitoring endangered freshwater biodiversity using environmental DNA

    Philip Francis Thomsen;Jos Kielgast;Lars L. Iversen;Carsten Wiuf

  • Power and limitations of the chloroplast trnL(UAA) intron for plant DNA barcoding

    Pierre Taberlet;Eric Coissac;François Pompanon;Ludovic Gielly

  • Next-generation monitoring of aquatic biodiversity using environmental DNA metabarcoding

    Alice Valentini;Pierre Taberlet;Pierre Taberlet;Claude Miaud;Raphaël Civade

  • Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation.

    Guojie Zhang;Guojie Zhang;Cai Li;Qiye Li;Bo Li

  • Worldwide Phylogeography of Wild Boar Reveals Multiple Centers of Pig Domestication

    Greger Larson;Keith Dobney;Umberto Albarella;Meiying Fang

  • Detection of a diverse marine fish fauna using environmental DNA from seawater samples.

    Philip Francis Thomsen;Jos Kielgast;Lars Lønsmann Iversen;Peter Rask Møller

  • Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans

    Maanasa Raghavan;Pontus Skoglund;Kelly E. Graf;Mait Metspalu

  • Ancient human genome sequence of an extinct Palaeo-Eskimo

    Morten Rasmussen;Yingrui Li;Stinus Lindgreen;Jakob Skou Pedersen

  • Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse.

    Ludovic Orlando;Aurelien Ginolhac;Guojie Zhang;Duane Froese

  • An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia

    Morten Rasmussen;Xiaosen Guo;Yong Wang;Kirk E. Lohmueller

  • Diverse Plant and Animal Genetic Records from Holocene and Pleistocene Sediments

    Eske Willerslev;Anders J. Hansen;Jonas Binladen;Tina B. Brand

  • Rise and Fall of the Beringian Steppe Bison

    Beth Shapiro;Alexei J. Drummond;Andrew Rambaut;Michael C. Wilson

  • Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans

    Eline D. Lorenzen;David Nogués-Bravo;Ludovic Orlando;Jaco Weinstock

  • Origins and Genetic Legacy of Neolithic Farmers and Hunter-Gatherers in Europe

    Pontus Skoglund;Helena Malmström;Maanasa Raghavan;Jan Storå

  • The half-life of DNA in bone: measuring decay kinetics in 158 dated fossils

    Morten E. Allentoft;Morten E. Allentoft;Morten E. Allentoft;Matthew Collins;David Harker;James Haile

  • Tracing the peopling of the world through genomics

    Rasmus Nielsen;Joshua M. Akey;Mattias Jakobsson;Jonathan K. Pritchard

  • Review Paper. Ancient DNA

    Eske Willerslev;Alan Cooper

Frequent Co-Authors

M. Thomas P. Gilbert
M. Thomas P. Gilbert University of Copenhagen
Ludovic Orlando
Ludovic Orlando Paul Sabatier University
Rasmus Nielsen
Rasmus Nielsen University of California, Berkeley
James Haile
James Haile Murdoch University
Simon Rasmussen
Simon Rasmussen University of Copenhagen
Anders Götherström
Anders Götherström Stockholm University
Beth Shapiro
Beth Shapiro University of California, Santa Cruz
Anders Albrechtsen
Anders Albrechtsen University of Copenhagen
Alan Cooper
Alan Cooper Charles Sturt University

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