People of the Lab

Nina Overgaard Therkildsen

Principal Investigator
Nina is the head of the lab and 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.

Post-Doctoral Scholar
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.

Post-Doctoral Scholar
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.

Post-Doctoral Scholar
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.

Ph.D. Candidate
Azwad is interested in evolutionary genomics and conservation, with particular focus on invasive species and rapid evolution. His experience spans molecular ecology and disease vector neurogenetics, working in African savannas and with mosquitoes. His PhD research uses population genomics to understand the rapid adaptation of invasive American shad to new habitats on the Pacific coast of North America.

Heath Cook

Ph.D. Candidate
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.

Previous Members