Research

My background and research interests are broadly distributed in conservation biology (conservation ecology and conservation genetics) and population/landscape genetics.

Post-doctoral research (conservation ecology)

Fish species at risk in Ontario wetlands

My post-doctoral research is on modeling occupancy, detection probability and abundances of fishes in Ontario wetlands, with particular interest in fish species at risk. This work, in collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) and Department of Fisheries and Oceans, will inform monitoring and recovery efforts for wetland fish species at risk. I am using variety of analytical methods such as occupancy modeling, and regression-based models to estimate species diversity in different wetlands, and to model occupancy, detection probability and abundance of species of conservation interest. I am also evaluating different sampling strategies and quantifying the required sampling effort to accurately characterize wetland fish communities and monitor particular species at risk.

PhD research (conservation biology & population genetics)

From genes to communities: Effect of habitat change over space and time on fish diversity

My doctoral research spans from genetic diversity to community diversity, which incorporate my interest in population genetics to conservation ecology. Biodiversity is often described at 3 levels: genetic diversity (population level), species diversity, & community diversity. Each level is important and they are interconnected. Therefore, it is important to study and assess each level. In my research, I test hypotheses at different levels using fish. I have collaborations with scientists at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Nanaimo, BC & Winnipeg, MB), and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to investigate the influence of barriers such as dams on genetic diversity, population structure, and to quantify and characterize fish communities in Northern Canada (Northwest Territories) which are threatened by increasing mining exploration & development. At the population level, I use sockeye salmon population in Lower Fraser River to test hypotheses on genetic effects (population genetic structure, gene flow, effective population size, life history) of dams using empirical molecular data. At the species and community level, I quantify fish diversity and fish resources in subarctic lakes that are threatened by human development (mining) and climate change. There is limited scientific literature on fish in northern Canada (North of 60⁰ latitude) and even less data to quantify key ecological parameters such as biomass and productivity in these areas. In collaboration with Department of Fisheries and Oceans, I am quantifying fish diversity, biomass and testing multiple hypotheses on fish in this system in a comparative context. At a more general level, I use simulations to investigate effects of recent changes in population connectivity (think of possible effects of all the roads, dams, and other barriers that came to be in the last 100 years or so) on estimates of genetic connectivity among populations, primarily focusing on how time since the origin of the barrier, and the magnitude of gene flow change due to the barrier influence genetic connectivity estimates. This investigation was motivated by applied conservation questions related to how fragmentation influence genetics of populations.

MSc. research (population genetics & molecular phylogenetics)

Thesis: Population differentiation, historical demography and evolutionary relationships among widespread common chaffinch populations

I completed my MSc. thesis under the supervision of Dr. Allan J. Baker at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and University of Toronto on population genetics and evolutionary relationships among recently diverged common chaffinch (Fringilla coeleb ssp) populations in Northern Africa, Western Europe and Atlantic Islands. These birds are divided into multiple subspecies based on differences in male plumage colour and pattern. Due to recent divergence, inferring evolutionary relationships among these populations/ incipient species through molecular phylogenetics methods is difficult (because of incomplete lineage sorting). I used both population genetic and molecular phylogenetic approaches to investigate level of isolation and evolutionary relationships among different populations.