Therkildsen Lab

We study how marine species adapt to their environment and respond to altered conditions caused by selective harvest, climate change, or other anthropogenic pressures in a rapidly changing world. We do that using novel sequencing approaches for population genomic studies of non-model organisms.

Get in touch See our work

Current Members

Heath Cook

PhD Student

Heath is interested in marine biomonitoring and developing methods to overcome the difficulties in sampling biodiversity in regions of the world with reduced research infrastructure. He is currently investigating environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding in marine systems as a tool for the detection of continental shelf biodiversity.

Kara Jones

Post Doc

Kara’s background is in amphibian/reptile phylogenetics, population genetics, and phylogeography. She’s currently uses metagenomics to identify zooplankton and cyanobacteria from eDNA, and developing an epigenetic age prediction model for sturgeon.

Azwad Iqbal

PhD Student

Azwad is interested in evolutionary genomics and conservation, with particular focus on invasive species and rapid evolution. His PhD research focuses on the rapid adaptation of invasive American shad to their new habitats on the Pacific coast of North America.

Jaime Ortiz Pachar

Post Doc

Jaime currently studies sea cucumber conservation genomics in the Galapgos. He is very passionate about conservation of the natural environment and strongly believes that genetic tools can play a more prominent role in driving sustainable policies around the world.

Pavel Dimens

Post Doc

Pavel is interested in how fish movement over evolutionary time impacts and informs conservation genetics. His experience has been in highly migratory fishes in marine systems (sharks, tunas) and he has turned his attention to the anadromous American shad.

Nina Overgaard Therkildsen

Nina is interested in using cost-effective full-genome screening with time series data to observe recent dynamics and microevolution in retrospective “real time”. She is also keenly interested in exploring ways to leverage genomic analysis for sustainable fisheries management and conservation.