News

Congrats to Dina Memar Moshrefi for receiving the J. Ben and Helen D. Hill Memorial Fund Graduate Student Award!

April 2024

The award recognizes outstanding graduate students enrolled in the Eberly College of Science with interests in Genetics.

Congrats to Kevin Mouck for receiving the Erickson Discovery Grant Award!

March 2023

Kevin will be working in the Huber lab on new statistical methods for detecting partial selective sweeps in aDNA datasets.

New paper out: Fluctuating selection and the determinants of genetic variation

6 March 2023

Here we review recent evidence of fluctuating selection in Drosophila and beyond. We also explore genetic and ecological models that have been developed to explain the thousands of fluctuating SNPs identified in natural populations and understand their dynamics, including their effects on genome-wide diversity.

Read the journal article here.

Admixture has obscured signals of historical hard sweeps in humans - Nature Ecology & EvolutionThrough analyses of ancient and modern human genomes, the authors show that previously reported Holocene-era admixture has masked more than 50 historic hard sweeps in modern European genomes.

Ancient genomes reveal hidden history of human adaptation

3 November 2022

Our results confirm hard selective sweeps were part of human genetic adaptation, challenging the prevailing view of human adaptation and providing insights into how humans have adapted to the novel environmental pressures.

Read the Penn State press release here.

Read the journal article here.

Congrats to Abigail Sequeira for receiving the Bunton-Waller Graduate Assistantship!

August 2022

Welcome new PhD Student Abigail Sequeira!

August 2022

Abigail is a PhD Student from the Biology Program at Penn State. She joins the lab for her dissertation work after completing her rotation in the lab in December.

Welcome new PhD Student Dina Memar Moshrefi!

22 August 2022

Dina is a PhD Student from the Biology Program at Penn State. She is joining the lab this Fall. Previously, Dina studied Archaeology at the University of Tehran, where she graduated in 2021.

Welcome Postdoc Matthew Williams!

May 2022

Matthew is joining us in Pennsylvania to begin his work as a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State. Matthew previously completed his PhD at the the University of Adelaide.

Welcome new PhD Student Troy LaPolice!

8 April 2022

Troy is a PhD Student from the Bioinformatics and Genomics Program at Penn State. He joins the lab for his dissertation work after completing his rotation in the lab in March.