Research

I am an evolutionary ecologist with a general curiosity in all fields of evolutionary biology. I use experimental approaches to study the principles underlying phenotypic and genetic variation across and within species. Specifically, I aim at disentangling genetic and phenotypic underpinning of fitness differences. I enjoy bringing novel technologies to study wild populations.

To this end, I am integrating a number of various approaches (field collection, population (immuno)genetics, experimental exposures to pathogen, and selection experiments in common garden) to test key hypotheses at the interface of ecology and evolution.

I work at the Marine Institute at the Newport Research Station in Ireland. There, I recently participated in multidisciplinary projects investigating the genetic and phenotypic differences between wild and farmed Atlantic salmon and their offspring using state-of -the-art techniques (e.g. PIT antennas, genomic scans, metabolism, microbiota…). See fisheye.ucc.ie for more details.

I am currently leading the EVODYNGAAS project (EVOlutionary DYNamics and Genetic Adaptation in Atlantic Salmon). This project, funded under the SFI-IRC Pathway programme is investigating contemporary evolutionary dynamics of Atlantic salmon and their scope for adaptation to multiple anthropogenic stressors including climate change using genomic scans and quantitative genetics from the Burrishoole population in Ireland.

EVODYNGAAS partners include Dr Russell Poole (MI), Prof Phil McGinnity and Dr Tom Reed (UCC), Dr Deirdre Brophy (ATU) and Dr Elvira de Eyto (MI).

Short summaries of previous projects I am or was involved with can be found under the sections below :

The consequences of farm salmon escapes and their interactions with wild populations

Since 2017, I have studied the evolutionary ecology of Atlantic salmon (S. salar), in a research group focused on the ecology and evolution of juvenile and adult salmonids.

With increased aquaculture pressure, widespread introgression of foreign genetic material can lead to population decline potentially aggravated by climate change. In essence we hit the black box to why, where and when fish carrying domesticated alleles have lower fitness compared to pure wild stocks in the wild.

For this, we used common garden experiments and established experimental populations of pure lines and hybrids and we investigated key life history traits, population demographics, genetic selection in a natural stream.

The aim of this work is to ultimately formulate predictive methodology to inform environmental best practice to secure long-term sustainability of global wild and farm fish populations.

The role of variance in population dynamics and the maintenance of phenotypic diversity

During my time as postdoctoral researcher at the DEE in the UNIL (Lausanne), I studied how phenotypic and environmental variance interact to impact population dynamics and natural and sexual selection using the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) as a model species.

The role of parasites in the maintenance of genetic and phenotypic diversity

During my Ph.D. at the MPI for Evolutionary Biology in Ploen, my work focused on studying the diversity of host defenses, their modes of inheritance as well as the role of parasite-mediated selection in speciation, using the three-spined stickleback as an experimental model system.

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