University of Hawai'i at Manoa
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Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, Moku o Loʻe, Kāneʻohe Bay. Photo credit: hawaii.edu/himb
PhD Candidate
Marine Biology Graduate Program
Tobo Lab: Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
Advisor: Dr. Robert J. Toonen
I am currently a PhD candidate in the ToBo lab at the the Unoveristy of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Broadly, I study population genomics of marine organisms, with an emphasis on bioinformatics and data science. More specifically, my work is focused on developing bioinformatic pools to process pooled RADseq data – a cost saving approach to studying patterns of population genetics at the genome scale – and using these tools to answer questions in connectivity, evolution, and ecology. In my dissertation work, I have developed a bioinformatic pipeline – AssessPool. I am using AssessPool to characterize connectivity of marine speices in the Hawaiian Archipelago, from a taxonomically diverse group of fish, invertebrates, and corals. This approach will evaluate the efficacy of population genome approaches when compared to previous single marker population genetic work from the same region (Toonen et al 2011). Additionally, I am using the same pooled technique to identify genomic regions related to salinity tolerance in tilapia. The Mossambique tilapia has the ability to withstand a range of salinities from freshwater to double strength seawater and we are using pool-seq to pinpoint regions of genetic differentiation as candiate loci for future physiological endevours.
Marine Biology Graduate Program
Tobo Lab: Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
Advisor: Dr. Robert J. Toonen
I am currently a PhD candidate in the ToBo lab at the the Unoveristy of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Broadly, I study population genomics of marine organisms, with an emphasis on bioinformatics and data science. More specifically, my work is focused on developing bioinformatic pools to process pooled RADseq data – a cost saving approach to studying patterns of population genetics at the genome scale – and using these tools to answer questions in connectivity, evolution, and ecology. In my dissertation work, I have developed a bioinformatic pipeline – AssessPool. I am using AssessPool to characterize connectivity of marine speices in the Hawaiian Archipelago, from a taxonomically diverse group of fish, invertebrates, and corals. This approach will evaluate the efficacy of population genome approaches when compared to previous single marker population genetic work from the same region (Toonen et al 2011). Additionally, I am using the same pooled technique to identify genomic regions related to salinity tolerance in tilapia. The Mossambique tilapia has the ability to withstand a range of salinities from freshwater to double strength seawater and we are using pool-seq to pinpoint regions of genetic differentiation as candiate loci for future physiological endevours.
Campus Point, UCSB.
Photo credit: psych.ucsb.edu
Class of 2014
Bachelor of Science: Aquatic Biology
Distinction in the Major
As an undergraduate at UCSB, I was fortunate enough to become engaged with several outstanding research groups, with whom I completed three National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) programs. First with the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research (SBC LTER) group in the summer of 2012, followed by the Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER in the summer of 2013, and finally with the Gretchen Hofmann Lab research group in the summer of 2014. Upon completion of my senior thesis work advised by Dr. Daniel Reed, I graduated with both the Distinction in the Major and Dean Bazzi Memorial Scholarship awards.
Bachelor of Science: Aquatic Biology
Distinction in the Major
As an undergraduate at UCSB, I was fortunate enough to become engaged with several outstanding research groups, with whom I completed three National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) programs. First with the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research (SBC LTER) group in the summer of 2012, followed by the Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER in the summer of 2013, and finally with the Gretchen Hofmann Lab research group in the summer of 2014. Upon completion of my senior thesis work advised by Dr. Daniel Reed, I graduated with both the Distinction in the Major and Dean Bazzi Memorial Scholarship awards.
