Current Research
Palaeogenomics of Past Climate Change
One of the key questions in evolutionary biology concerns how climate change affects organisms. By understanding how species have responded to climate change in the past, we may be able to infer how they will respond to current and future climate change. My PhD project will use palaeogenomics in extinct and extant species to (i) understand changes in demography during past climatic events, (ii) determine how range contractions may lead to loss of unique genetic diversity, and (iii) examine adaptive evolution in response to climate change. Using complete mitochondrial and nuclear genomes from well-dated samples of woolly rhinoceros, humans, collared lemmings, and ptarmigan, I will assess the changes in population genetic parameters in response to rapid climatic events in the Late Pleistocene.
Supervisor: Prof. Love Dalén (Swedish Museum of Natural History)
Co-supervisor: Prof. Anders Götherström (Stockholm University)
Brief CV
Sept 2018 – PhD in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology, Swedish Museum of Natural History
2017-2018 – Research Assistant, Dept. of Anatomy, University of Otago, New Zealand
2011- 2018 – Research Assistant, Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Otago, New Zealand
2016-2017 – MSc in Anatomy, University of Otago, New Zealand
2015 – BA (hons) in Anthropology, University of Otago, New Zealand
2011-2014 – BSc in Genetics and Biochemistry, DipGrad in Anthropology, University of Otago, New Zealand
Publications
Lord E, Collins C, deFrance SD, LeFebvre MJ, Matisoo-Smith E (2018) Complete mitogenomes of ancient Caribbean Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). J Archaeol Sci Reports 17:678–688.