July

1. Over the past decade, there has been a rapid increase in the development of predictive models at the intersection of molecular ecology, genomics, and global change. The common goal of these ‘genomic forecasting’ models is to integrate genomic data with environmental and ecological data in a model to make quantitative predictions about the vulnerability of populations to climate change.

2. Despite rapid methodological development and the growing number of systems in which genomic forecasts are made, the forecasts themselves are rarely evaluated in a rigorous manner with ground-truth experiments. This study reviews the evaluation experiments that have been done, introduces important terminology regarding the evaluation of genomic forecasting models, and discusses important elements in the design and reporting of ground-truth experiments.

3. To date, experimental evaluations of genomic forecasts have found high variation in the accuracy of forecasts, but it is difficult to compare studies on a common ground due to different approaches and experimental designs. Additionally, some evaluations may be biased toward higher performance because training data and testing data are not independent. In addition to independence between training data and testing data, important elements in the design of an evaluation experiment include the construction and parameterization of the forecasting model, the choice of fitness proxies to measure for test data, the construction of the evaluation model, the choice of evaluation metric(s), the degree of extrapolation to novel environments or genotypes, and the sensitivity, uncertainty and reproducbility of forecasts.

4. Although genomic forecasting methods are becoming more accessible, evaluating their limitations in a particular study system requires careful planning and experimentation. Meticulously designed evaluation experiments can clarify the robustness of the forecasts for application in management. Clear reporting of basic elements of experimental design will improve the rigour of evaluations, and in turn our understanding of why models work in some cases and not others.

June

We set up our Eelgrass Adaptations experiment at Tjärnö Marine Lab in Sweden!

Eelgrass is a unique type of grass that only lives in saltwater, and forms important habitat for invertebrates and juvenile fish. 

In collaboration with Marlene Janke at the University of Gothenberg, we are studying how different eelgrass genotypes will be adapted to climate change in the Baltic Sea. Katie, Camille, and Jalen drove with Marlene around Sweden to collect eelgrass ecotypes. We then brought them back to Tjärnö Marine Lab and are raising them in a giant common garden experiment with current and future conditions. We will also use this data to test genomic forecasting models and inform restoration goals for Sweden.

May

Our paper "Lighting pathways to success in STEM: a virtual Laboratory Meeting Programme (LaMP) mutually benefits mentees and host laboratories" is out in Royal Society B!

Link to publication: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2024.0149?af=R 

Figure 1. The virtual LaMP facilitates training and networking of the mentee (blue) through virtual interactions with the host research laboratory (warm colours). Illustration by Christina Chung.

About the paper: Developing robust professional networks can help shape the trajectories of early career scientists. Yet, historical inequities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields make access to these networks highly variable across academic programmes, and senior academics often have little time for mentoring. Here, we illustrate the success of a virtual Laboratory Meeting Programme (LaMP). In this programme, we matched students (mentees) with a more experienced scientist (mentors) from a research group. The mentees then attended the mentors’ laboratory meetings during the academic year with two laboratory meetings specifically dedicated to the mentee’s professional development. Survey results indicate that mentees expanded their knowledge of the hidden curriculum as well as their professional network, while only requiring a few extra hours of their mentor’s time over eight months. In addition, host laboratories benefitted from mentees sharing new perspectives and knowledge in laboratory meetings. Diversity of the mentees was significantly higher than the mentors, suggesting that the programme increased the participation of traditionally under-represented groups. Finally, we found that providing a stipend was very important to many mentees. We conclude that virtual LaMPs can be an inclusive and cost-effective way to foster trainee development and increase diversity within STEM fields with little additional time commitment.

MSC Grad Symposium

Madeline and Camille did an awesome job presenting their research at the Northeastern Marine Science Center Grad symposium.

Field work at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science

This is for our "Model Validation Program" project. We are monitoring the survival and growth of oyster genotypes collected from Texas to Maine. Many thanks to Camille Rumberger, Annabel Hughes, Kiran Bajaj, Nicole Mongillo, and Lee Fennucio for their help in the field this week!

April

Dr. Lotterhos is elected Secretary of the Society of American Naturalists

The American Society of Naturalists is the oldest scientific society dedicated to the study of ecology, evolution, and behavior.  Read about the election here.

Northeastern funds Dr. Lotterhos to lead a Virtual Lab Meeting Program (LaMP)

The funding comes from Northeastern's I3 fund for Inclusive Impact Innovation

More lab milestones and awards to celebrate!

Madeline Eppley - Melbourne R. Carriker award from the National Shellfisheries Association for their ancient oyster DNA project

Katie Lotterhos - paper published - Lighting pathways to success in STEM: A virtual Lab Meeting Program (LaMP) mutually benefits mentees and host labs. in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Practices paper

Katie Lotterhos - blog post published on her paper exploring conceptual issues in local adaptation and maladaptation

Leila Curtis - MSC Summer Internship and NOAA Hollings Scholar

Lee Fennucio - MSC Summer Internship

Camille Rumberger - Honorable Mention from the National Science Foundation for her GRFP proposal!

March

Camille is awarded the ASF Fellowship

Camille is awarded an ASF fellowship for Americans in the Nordic Countries! This grant will support her research on genomic forecasting in eelgrass in the Baltic Sea.

High School Marine Science Symposium

We held our annual "Oyster Doctors" workshop at the Northeastern High School Marine Science Symposium. Many of the students who attend HSMSS are from schools without the resources to provide in-depth hands-on learning experiences.  The lead teacher from one of those schools specifically thanked us yesterday for including dissections and hands-on bio exploration as an option, because her students haven’t had any exposure to that experience due to school budget and curriculum restraints. Special thanks to Madeline Eppley for organizing the workshop!

286 high school students & teachers

13 school districts

48 exhibit table presenters

10 packed workshops on science, art, conservation

3 inspirational keynote panelists

26 STEM and environmental advocacy organizations

News @ Northeastern article

January-February

Nicole and Kiran are awarded a $3000 PEAK Award from Northeastern University for their research on how oyster genotype influences growth in an aquaculture setting.

Camille passed her oral exam.

Madeline successfully defended their PhD proposal and was admitted to candidacy.

Elisabeth was awarded a Dean's Distinguished Award from the College of Science and was accepted to graduate school.