My PhD dissertation consists of a taxonomic revision of the palm tribe Caryoteae.
This group is composed of three genera (Arenga, Caryota and Wallichia) representing approximately 45 species.

These palms are restricted to Asia and Australasia. They grow from India to the Solomon Islands and North East Australia with the greatest diversity in Indochina, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Some members of the tribe, and especially species of the genus Caryota, are commonly called "Fishtail palms" because of the characteristic triangular shape of the leaflets. This elegant leaflet shape and unique bipinnate architecture (restricted to the genus Caryota) of the leaves, make them highly sought after in horticulture. Members of this tribe with major agricultural importance include the Toddy Palm (Caryota urens L.) and the sugar Palm (Arenga pinnata (Wurmb) Merr.).

My main focus will be to work on the species delimitations, their geographical distribution, and to understand the biogeography of this group in respect to the main biogeographical patterns of South East Asia (Wallace's lines, Huxley's line etc...)
I will also propose a conservation status for each species. We already know that some species are threatened in the wild (Arenga listeri, Arenga micrantha...) but a lot of work still needs to be done.

In addition to this taxonomic revision we will carry out a molecular phylogeny of the tribe in order to complete the taxonomic work, and to better understand the character evolution in this group.