Research

ecological, environmental & ancient genomics

conservation genomics of endangered North Atlantic right whale

I am excited to be collaborating with Dr. Tim Frasier at St. Mary's University on his Genome Canada funded research project.

"We are very happy to announce that we will be receiving funding from Genome Atlantic to do some very exciting research on North Atlantic right whales! Our work will be focused on using genomic data to quantify the impact of inbreeding on reproductive success and species recovery, and to identify if there are long-term negative consequences of non-lethal entanglements in fishing gear."
Dr. Timothy Frasier, Principal Investigator.

Find out more by clicking here.

ancient ancestry - Pleistocene wolf genomeS

In collaboration with Dr. Paul Wilson at Trent University and Dr. Tim Gaugin and Jeremy Hooper at University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, we are sequencing ancient wolf genomes to understand the ancient contributions to contemporary Canis populations. Read our recent Open Access publication here.

genomic ancestry of north american canis

My post-doctoral work established the Canis Ancestry project at Princeton University and I continue to be a collaborator on this large-scale genomics project that continues to clarify ancestry of Canis species in North America. I established a RAD sequencing (RAD-seq) protocol to generate tens of thousands of genome-wide SNPs on thousands of samples from across North America. This dataset has led to the identification of genome-wide ancestry informative and adaptive markers in various Canis types that has promoted the conservation of Algonquin wolves in Canada and Red Wolves in the United States.

Read the Abstract for a recent publication on cryptic red wolf alleles in wild populations.
Read the consensus publication on the uniqueness of Algonquin Wolves.
Read about the discovery of red wolf ghost alleles on Galveston Island in Texas here.

environmental dna

Diet Analysis with DNA Metabarcoding

I am interested in understanding dietary partitioning and forage/prey changes in wildlife species, particularly as it relates to environmental influences and climate change. My current work includes exploring dietary components in bat (Myotis spp.) guano and identifying differences in caribou (Rangifer tarandus) diet in lichen-poor vs lichen-rich environments.
Read our new paper on caribou diet here.

Aquatic Community Biodiversity

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is broadly defined as trace amounts of target DNA in sources such as water, soil, and scat. I am working with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry to use DNA metabarcoding and high throughput sequencing on Illumina MiSeq system to identify fish and avian assemblages in Ontario's freshwater lakes.

The benefit to aquatic sampling for species identification through DNA sequencing is that it can identify rare/endangered species or be a first indicator for presence of invasive species.

Click here for our avian eDNA protocol for Illumina MiSeq.

eastern wolf survey

In 2012, I founded the Eastern Wolf Survey that focuses on Research, Conservation, and Outreach to protect the threatened Algonquin wolf. Along with my research partners, I collect noninvasive samples from wolves and coyotes to create genetic profiles that I use in Canis assignment tests. This research continues to help clarify the extent of occurrence for Eastern (Algonquin) Wolves in Ontario and Quebec.

Find out more at easternwolfsurvey.ca or follow me on Twitter @EastWolfSurvey

undergraduate research

Jordan McDonald successfully completed her undergraduate thesis work (2020/2021) with myself and Erica Nol - through the height of the pandemic! Well done! Jordan's research thesis project examined the impact of human density on ratios of domestic:wild animal eDNA sequences from water samples collected in the Kawartha region.

In May, 2021 Jordan started her Masters in Bioenvironmental Monitoring and Assessment (BEMA) at Trent University with Dr. Tom Hossie and Dr. Dennis Murray researching salamanders.

Jovana Stosic (2019/2020) successfully completed her undergraduate research project, working with myself and Dr. Christina Davy (Research Scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry) on a preliminary exploration of DNA metabarcoding of bat faecal samples for diet analysis.

Congratulations to Jovana who was accepted into the highly competitive masters program in Genetic Counselling at Cardiff University!

Greniqueca Mitchell (2018/2019) successfully completed her undergraduate research thesis on eDNA metabarcoding to detect caribou diet. Her thesis work was published in Facets and can be read here.

Shannen Lauzon (2018/2019) successfully completed her undergraduate research thesis on eDNA metabarcoding of water samples from varying depths in Lake Opeongo to detect fish species.

other research projects

epigenetics of speciation

Although reproductive incompatibility causing speciation has been linked to variable methylation in plants, little is known about the role of methylation in differentiation leading to speciation in wild animal populations. Does variable methylation influence reproductive compatibility and to what extent does it contribute to speciation? Preliminary results are published here.

california loggerhead shrike

Utilizing mtDNA sequence data and microsatellite profiles, we investigated population genetics of loggerhead shrike populations in California, including mainland California, the Channel Islands (San Clemente, Santa Catalina, Santa Cruz, & Santa Rosa), and the captive breeding population at the San Diego Zoo. Check out the publication here.