The O'Lab @ St. Anselm
Our RESEARCH focuses on the molecular ecology and conservation genomics of primarily marine fishes. We achieve this using genomic data sets to identify patterns of connectivity and population structure, explore the interaction with and adaptation to the environment on a genetic level, and determine how this applies to conservation and management.
Teaching
Current Courses:
- Conservation Biology
- General Biology II
- Biosphere at Risk
- Data Science for the Natural Environment
We learn and do science together following three principles:
1. Learn to ask the right questions, not just to have all the right answers.
2. The best way to learn to do something new is to ‘watch one, do one, teach one’.
3. Nobody is expected to not make any mistakes, everybody is expected to learn from them.
(also, nobody has time to make all the mistakes themselves, so learn from other people’s mistakes)
Research
Research projects fall into two major categories:
Using molecular markers to understand microevolutionary processes & ecological patterns
- Connectivity & local adaptation in marine fishes
- Population-level effects of an oil spil on the genetic diversity of demersal fishes
- Genetic diversity of small populations
Using molecular markers to characterize & identify individuals, populations, and species
- DNA Fingerprinting to identify individuals and their relationships to each other with a variety of applications, including aquaculture.
- Mixed stock analysis to determine the contribution of individual rivers and estuaries that form the natal habitat and/or nurseries of juveniles recruiting to populations offshore.
- Genetic barcoding for species identification - even when the whole specimen is not available for morphological assessment.
Sound interesting? Contact me to talk about research projects!
1. Connectivity and local adaptation in marine fishes across their ranges
Current study species include southern flounder, golden tilefish and gafftopsail fish.
2. Genetic diversity of small populations
Conservation Genetics focuses on small populations, past study species include white sharks, silversides, sturgeon, and winter flounder, ongoing research includes salmon and bullsharks.
3. Population level effects of a large-scale oil spill on the genetic diversity of demersal fishes
How did the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oilspill affect golden tilefish, and other demersal species?
4. DNA Fingerprinting
DNA fingerprinting can be used to identify individuals and their relationships to each other with a variety of applciations, including aquaculture.
5. Mixed stock analysis
Mixed stock analysis can be used to determine the contribution of individual rivers and estuaries that form the natal habitat and/or nurseries of juveniles recruiting to populations offshore.
6. Genetic Barcoding
Genetic barcoding for species identification ... gut content analaysis, wildlife forensics and other applications.
Publications
For an up to date list of peer-reviewed papers see GoogleScholar Profile.
- Natural tags identify nursery origin of a coastal elasmobranch Carcharhinus leucas
- Population Structure of Atlantic Croakers from the Gulf of Mexico: Evaluating a Single‐Stock Hypothesis Using a Genomic Approach
- Genetic mapping and comparative genomics to inform restoration enhancement and culture of southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma
- These aren’t the loci you’re looking for: Principles of effective SNP filtering for molecular ecologists
- Population genetics and geometric morphometrics of the key silverside, Menidia conchorum, a marine fish in a highly-fragmented, inland habitat
- Genetic Diversity of White Sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Northwest Atlantic and Southern Africa
- Genetic diversity and effective size of Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrhinchus oxyrhinchus river spawning populations estimated from the microsatellite genotypes of marine-captured juveniles
- Severe inbreeding and small effective number of breeders in a formerly abundant marine fish
- Flood pulse effects on benthic invertebrate assemblages in the hypolacustric interstitial zone of Lake Constance
- Genetic mixed‐stock analysis of Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus in a heavily exploited marine habitat indicates the need for routine genetic monitoring
Wait! There's more..
See all Publications for more examples!
Experience
Lecturer
Taught Ecology & Evolution (Lecture/Lab), Biodiversity (Lecture), Molecular Ecology & Evolution (seminar)