Dr Walter studies how populations can respond to ongoing environmental change by using a mixture of quantitative genetics, field experiments and experimental evolution. Current experiments focus on how plasticity evolves, and whether genetic variation exists that can promote adaptation to changing environments.

In his previous role as a research fellow at the University of Bristol (UK), Dr Walter used extensive transplants of two contrasting species of daisy across an elevational gradient on Mt Etna, Sicily. Outputs from this work have revealed that adaptation generates different forms of plasticity, that genetic variation in plasticity is needed to help populations adapt to novel environments, and that genetic and phenotypic variation is affected by environmental variation, which will deterimine population resilience in response to environmental change.