Dr. Melanie Stiassny’s research focuses on freshwater biodiversity documentation and systematic ichthyology in the Old World tropics, particularly that of Africa and Madagascar. Current research and fieldwork is located in the world’s second largest river basin, the Congo River. In collaboration with an international team of research scientists, government agencies, and international NGOs her research seeks to develop a synthesis of systematics, biogeography, population biology, bioinformatics, and remotely sensed hydrological data to elucidate the evolutionary dynamics underpinning the high diversity of fishes in the lower Congo River, and as an aid in conservation planning throughout the Congo basin.