ENAC Seminar Series by Dr D. Leigh
Event details
| Date | 20.05.2021 |
| Hour | 09:00 › 09:45 |
| Speaker | Dr Deborah Leigh |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
09:00 – 09:45 – Dr D. Leigh
Postdoctoral Fellow at Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH
Macrogenetics and detecting environmental adaptation
Genetic diversity is the foundation of adaptation and adaptive potential, making it integral to any species’ response to climate change. It is also a core component of biodiversity and underpins ecosystem resilience. Yet the limited monitoring and mapping of genetic diversity has left many open questions. We are still mapping global genetic diversity patterns and searching for the factors that drive these across species. These knowledge gaps limit our ability to monitor genetic diversity, protect biodiversity, and forecast future change.
The new field of macrogenetics, large-scale multispecies studies of genetic diversity, has great power to address these open questions. For example, in a recent macrogenetic study I was able to provide the first estimate of global genetic diversity change in wild species and found a significant 6% decline since the industrial revolution. In the future, by combining macrogenetics with genomics we can both expand our understanding of genetic diversity and explore multispecies adaptive responses to climate change. However, identifying adaptation in wild species remains complex and the difficulties are exacerbated by genetic drift in declining populations. In recently bottlenecked populations of Alpine ibex, through simulations I found a worrying ‘catch-22’ situation where recent adaptation could not be accurately confirmed or denied. As many wild populations are declining, we must continue to evaluate the power of genomic selection detection methods (‘outlier scans’) to ensure an accurate understanding of adaptation. This will facilitate the evolutionary management of wild species, ensure genetic diversity conservation, thus helping to mitigate the effects of global climate change on biodiversity.
Short bio:
Dr Leigh is a question driven conservation genomicist. Her research interests fall at intersection of evolutionary and conservation biology. She is particularly focused on expanding our understanding and protection of genetic diversity through macrogenetics. She is also interested in studying the adaptive processes in complex non-equilibrium populations, including those that are declining or bottlenecked, to help improve species management. She is currently a Postdoctoral researcher at WSL Zurich (Switzerland) studying the structure of intra-host populations of an RNA mycovirus used for biocontrol. Prior to this, she completed a Postdoctoral position at Queen’s University (Canada) in collaboration with Environment Climate Change Canada studying Arctic Seabirds. In 2017, she completed my PhD in the Conservation Genomics of the Alpine ibex at the University of Zurich. On my days off, she is a keen coffee drinker and enjoy hiking in the Alps.
Postdoctoral Fellow at Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH
Macrogenetics and detecting environmental adaptation
Genetic diversity is the foundation of adaptation and adaptive potential, making it integral to any species’ response to climate change. It is also a core component of biodiversity and underpins ecosystem resilience. Yet the limited monitoring and mapping of genetic diversity has left many open questions. We are still mapping global genetic diversity patterns and searching for the factors that drive these across species. These knowledge gaps limit our ability to monitor genetic diversity, protect biodiversity, and forecast future change.
The new field of macrogenetics, large-scale multispecies studies of genetic diversity, has great power to address these open questions. For example, in a recent macrogenetic study I was able to provide the first estimate of global genetic diversity change in wild species and found a significant 6% decline since the industrial revolution. In the future, by combining macrogenetics with genomics we can both expand our understanding of genetic diversity and explore multispecies adaptive responses to climate change. However, identifying adaptation in wild species remains complex and the difficulties are exacerbated by genetic drift in declining populations. In recently bottlenecked populations of Alpine ibex, through simulations I found a worrying ‘catch-22’ situation where recent adaptation could not be accurately confirmed or denied. As many wild populations are declining, we must continue to evaluate the power of genomic selection detection methods (‘outlier scans’) to ensure an accurate understanding of adaptation. This will facilitate the evolutionary management of wild species, ensure genetic diversity conservation, thus helping to mitigate the effects of global climate change on biodiversity.
Short bio:
Dr Leigh is a question driven conservation genomicist. Her research interests fall at intersection of evolutionary and conservation biology. She is particularly focused on expanding our understanding and protection of genetic diversity through macrogenetics. She is also interested in studying the adaptive processes in complex non-equilibrium populations, including those that are declining or bottlenecked, to help improve species management. She is currently a Postdoctoral researcher at WSL Zurich (Switzerland) studying the structure of intra-host populations of an RNA mycovirus used for biocontrol. Prior to this, she completed a Postdoctoral position at Queen’s University (Canada) in collaboration with Environment Climate Change Canada studying Arctic Seabirds. In 2017, she completed my PhD in the Conservation Genomics of the Alpine ibex at the University of Zurich. On my days off, she is a keen coffee drinker and enjoy hiking in the Alps.
Practical information
- General public
- Invitation required
- This event is internal
Organizer
- ENAC
Contact
- Cristina Perez