Photo Credit: michael Runtz
About Me
I am an Ecological/Evolutionary Geneticist and an Adjunct Professor in the Environmental & Life Sciences (ENLS) Graduate Program at Trent University. I am passionate about science and education and I have worked in the field of ecological genetics and wildlife conservation for over 15 years.
I work with partners in academia, government, and non-governmental organizations in Canada and the United States to understand how environmental factors, including human influences, shape ecosystems and the evolutionary trajectory of wildlife populations. My interest is in applying genomics tools, in combination with traditional ecological approaches and community knowledge, to answer questions that will help inform and shape conservation policy. My most recent work uses metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) to understand dietary niches of caribou and to assess community biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. And I am excited to be a collaborator on a new Genome Canada funded Large-Scale Applied Research Project aimed at understanding genomic factors that are impacting the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The bulk of my previous (and ongoing) research has focussed on how ancient, historical, and contemporary hybridization alters evolutionary trajectories and leads to contemporary evolution of species. Much of my work has been on Canis species and in particular Eastern (aka Algonquin) Wolves (Canis lycaon), a threatened species in Ontario and Canada. In 2012, I founded the Eastern Wolf Survey, a research project focussed on non-invasively tracking Eastern Wolves across southern Ontario and beyond.
Check out my research page to find out more about my research.
Check out my teaching page to find out more about my teaching.
I work with partners in academia, government, and non-governmental organizations in Canada and the United States to understand how environmental factors, including human influences, shape ecosystems and the evolutionary trajectory of wildlife populations. My interest is in applying genomics tools, in combination with traditional ecological approaches and community knowledge, to answer questions that will help inform and shape conservation policy. My most recent work uses metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) to understand dietary niches of caribou and to assess community biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. And I am excited to be a collaborator on a new Genome Canada funded Large-Scale Applied Research Project aimed at understanding genomic factors that are impacting the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The bulk of my previous (and ongoing) research has focussed on how ancient, historical, and contemporary hybridization alters evolutionary trajectories and leads to contemporary evolution of species. Much of my work has been on Canis species and in particular Eastern (aka Algonquin) Wolves (Canis lycaon), a threatened species in Ontario and Canada. In 2012, I founded the Eastern Wolf Survey, a research project focussed on non-invasively tracking Eastern Wolves across southern Ontario and beyond.
Check out my research page to find out more about my research.
Check out my teaching page to find out more about my teaching.