Lab Members
PhD students
Starsha Bird (incoming; July 2024)
Exploring different eDNA techniques to capture ecosystem health.
Meeran Hussain (in progress)
Controlling damaging invasive pests by learning from successful biocontrol.
Paige Matheson (in progress)
Eco-genomic predictors of invasion success.
MSc students
Ashleigh Stanners (in progress)
Using eDNA to understand penguin diet and ecosystem change.
Margot Wilde (in progress)
Heat tolerance in invasive blowflies.
Daniel Nunn (in progress)
Competition dynamics in invasive blowflies.
Max Theobold (in progress)
Understanding dispersal dynamics in invasive blowflies.
Phoenix Hale (in progress)
Understanding source-sink population dynamics of gambusia (Gambusia affinis) in the South Island of New Zealand.
alumni
Starsha Bird (MSc, first class honours, 2024; Univesity of Waikato)
Spatial and temporal variability of eDNA in wetlands.
Nicola Pyper (MSc, first class honours, 2024; Univesity of Waikato)
Comparing eDNA sampling with netting data for invasive catfish.
Lilly Croft (MSc, first class honours, 2024; University of Waikato)
Natural and experimental admixture in invasive and native blowflies.
Elahe (Eli) Parvizi (Postdoc)
Genomics Aotearoa Project: Invasomics for biosecurity: predicting and validating inherent invasiveness using high-priority exemplar species.
Amy Vaughan (Postdoc, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research)
Project: Invasomics for biosecurity: predicting and validating inherent invasiveness using high-priority exemplar species.
Margot Wilde (Undergraduate scholar for SCIEN303-23A; Summer Scholar for 2023/2024; University of Waikato)
Blowfly tolerance to heat and water deprivation.
Paige Matheson (MSc, first class honours, 2023; University of Waikato)
Using population genomic data to inform biological invasions.
Orla White (Summer Scholar 2022/2023; University of Waikato)
Which trapping methods capture the greatest insect diversity (and other projects!).
Dr Vanessa de Araujo Barbosa (PhD student 2020-2022; University of Waikato)
Assessing dispersal pathways and connectivity of aquatic insect populations in fragmented landscapes: an integrated study.
Chloe Flemming (Summer scholar 2021/2022; University of Waikato)
Do life history traits of blowflies correspond to invasive status?
Tessa Hamer (Summer scholar 2020/2021; University of Waikato)
Assessing biodiversity and population genetic structure of forest soil insects.
Dr Rebecca Laver (Postdoc 2018-2021; Australian National University)
How isolated is Antarctica? Assessing past and present plant colonisations.
Nonthakorn (Beatrice) Apirajkamol (MSc student, H1B grade (80-84) 2019; Australian National University)
Effect of oxidative stress on phenotype, gene function, and telomere length in Helicoverpa armigera.
Leo Featherstone (Summer scholar 2018/2019; Australian National University)
What can we achieve from mining exon capture bycatch? A case study using mitogenomes of Helicoverpa armigera.
Holly Sargent (MSc student, First class Honours 2018; Australian National University)
Quantifying genetic diversity, load, and divergence between island, captive, and historical rufous hare-wallaby populations to inform reintroductions. [Co-supervisor]
Jan Meyer (PhD student, 11 published papers, 2018; Max Planck Institute, Tübingen, Germany)
Elucidation of small-molecule structure and biosynthesis using genotype-phenotype association in island nematode lineages of Pristionchus pacificus. [Co-supervisor]