Blair was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs Post-doctoral Fellowship to study the genomic basis of Arctic adaptation in polar bears. His project will use functional and population genomic data to understand the role of regulatory sequence evolution in facilitating rapid adaptation to the Arctic. Read more here. Congratulations, Blair!
Ellie Armstrong presented her talk entitled “The genomics of the United States’ captive tiger population” as part of Dovetail Genomics and Revive & Restore’s Conservation Genomics Summit 2021. There, she discussed how an improved tiger reference genome she assembled using Dovetail’s technologies allowed for better population genomic insights concerning the ancestry and diversity of tigers in the US. Great job, Ellie!
Joanna was selected for a Mid-Career Faculty Achievement Award through WSU’s College of Arts and Sciences. She is recognized for her work in evolutionary and population genomics, with a successful funding track record and national recognition for her research. Congratulations, Joanna!! See the full award announcement here.
Ellie and Joanna are working with Dovetail Genomics and the conservation organization Revive & Restore to sequence the genome of a female wolverine named Laura. Wolverine populations have decreased in recent years but twice failed to be listed by the Endangered Species Act. Sequencing a high-quality reference genome will provide much needed genomic resources to inform conservation efforts for this enigmatic species. Read more here.
Tait Algayer will present her poster, “The plasticity of estuarine arthropods: how arthropods from various biomes respond to elevated CO2 levels” at the CERF 2021 conference in November! Congratulations, Tait!
We are thrilled that Tait Algayer joined the lab to pursue her PhD. Tait graduated from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) with a B.S. in Biology. At TCNJ, she worked under the guidance of Dr. Gary H. Dickinson to research the body-region-specific effects of ocean acidification on exoskeletal properties in the Alaskan snow crab, Chionoecetes oplilio. During her undergrad, Tait also worked part-time as a biological technician for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At NOAA, she assisted Dr. R. Chis Chambers with the design and implementation of seawater experiments examining the effects of anthropogenic stressors on development in early life-stage fishes. We are thrilled to have Tait in the lab!
Joanna participated in the MarineOmics RNAseq Panel 2021, to discuss best practices in RNA-seq with other experts in the field.
Great summary of our recent publication with the Jansen lab in JEB https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/224/12/jeb242927/269177
Our study of methylation on wild-caught and lab-reared F2 hydrogen-sulfide adapted fishes is out in PNAS. A link to the paper is here. Here’s a nice blog piece. Joanna, Michael (Michi) Tobler and Michael Skinner conceived of the study. Lenin Arias Rodriguez, from Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco in Villahermosa, Tabasco, MX, Michi and Joanna performed field work. Ingrid Sadler-Riggleman and Corey Quackenbush performed the laboratory work and optimized the MeDIP-seq library preparation. Daniel Beck, postdoc with Michael Skinner, performed the computational analyses. We all learned a lot from the collaboration. The results have generated even more questions for us and we are looking forward to following up on some of the questions!
There was also an article in the Daily Evergreen (the WSU student newspaper).
Joanna received funding through WSU’s Cougar Cage competition to research eight bear proteins that may help reverse obesity and insulin resistance. Her research will likely have important implications for diabetes treatment in humans. Congratulations, Joanna! Read the full award announcement here.
