Field site at Risør fjord in Norway.
About
I (she/her) am a marine evolutionary ecologist interested in how organisms respond to environmental change, including how adaptation to local environments in the past influences contemporary plastic responses and current/future environmental adaptation. My research uses interdisciplinary experimental, genomic, and modelling studies of natural populations to understand how these responses are structured across heterogeneous environments and within the genome itself. I believe that the answers to these questions are critical for predicting the persistence of species in the face of environmental change and for managing populations effectively to mitigate biodiversity loss.
I'm an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of New Brunswick Saint John (from July 2023). I will lead a transatlantic research program on marine eco-evolutionary dynamics spanning Canada, Sweden, and Norway, with bases at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Agder. We will study adaptation and speciation in marine fishes like Atlantic cod and bluefin tuna. My research program is ultimately aimed at integrating ecological and genomic data into eco-evolutionary models for forecasting population responses to environmental change, which will inform evidence-based decision making while providing insights into the predictability of ecology and evolution.
Interests include the role of behaviour and mating systems in environmental responses and adaptation and the impact of human activity on these processes. I co-lead the scientific and artistic project TORSKETROMMING ('COD DRUMMING'), which investigates the role of drumming vocalizations in the Atlantic cod mating ritual and human-cod connection by combining natural scientific, artistic, and social scientific practices. Our performances, sound installations, and musical lectures have been held at Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, Only Connect Festival, Barents Spektakel, and Kunsthalle Exnergasse, among others. We also lead children's workshops around Norway.
High quality reference genomes are invaluable to genomic forecasting of biodiversity. I am a founding member and Council Representative for Norway in the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA), the Project Lead for the University of Oslo in Biodiversity Genomics Europe, and the Scientific Coordinator for the Earth Biogenome Project Norway (EBP-Nor), consortia which aim to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotic species in Europe/Norway as part of the Earth Biogenome Project that aims to sequence all such species on Earth in a distributed, inclusive, and just manner. Within ERGA, I co-chair the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) Committee and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee.
I'm currently based at the Centre for Coastal Research and Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research at the University of Agder and the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo. I completed my MSc and PhD with Dr. Jeff Hutchings at Dalhousie University on the genomic basis and spatial scale of variation in temperature responses of Atlantic cod. Afterwards, I was a James S. McDonnell Foundation Fellow in Understanding Dynamic and Multi-scale Systems at the University of Oslo.
I'm an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of New Brunswick Saint John (from July 2023). I will lead a transatlantic research program on marine eco-evolutionary dynamics spanning Canada, Sweden, and Norway, with bases at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Agder. We will study adaptation and speciation in marine fishes like Atlantic cod and bluefin tuna. My research program is ultimately aimed at integrating ecological and genomic data into eco-evolutionary models for forecasting population responses to environmental change, which will inform evidence-based decision making while providing insights into the predictability of ecology and evolution.
Interests include the role of behaviour and mating systems in environmental responses and adaptation and the impact of human activity on these processes. I co-lead the scientific and artistic project TORSKETROMMING ('COD DRUMMING'), which investigates the role of drumming vocalizations in the Atlantic cod mating ritual and human-cod connection by combining natural scientific, artistic, and social scientific practices. Our performances, sound installations, and musical lectures have been held at Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, Only Connect Festival, Barents Spektakel, and Kunsthalle Exnergasse, among others. We also lead children's workshops around Norway.
High quality reference genomes are invaluable to genomic forecasting of biodiversity. I am a founding member and Council Representative for Norway in the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA), the Project Lead for the University of Oslo in Biodiversity Genomics Europe, and the Scientific Coordinator for the Earth Biogenome Project Norway (EBP-Nor), consortia which aim to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotic species in Europe/Norway as part of the Earth Biogenome Project that aims to sequence all such species on Earth in a distributed, inclusive, and just manner. Within ERGA, I co-chair the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) Committee and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee.
I'm currently based at the Centre for Coastal Research and Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research at the University of Agder and the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo. I completed my MSc and PhD with Dr. Jeff Hutchings at Dalhousie University on the genomic basis and spatial scale of variation in temperature responses of Atlantic cod. Afterwards, I was a James S. McDonnell Foundation Fellow in Understanding Dynamic and Multi-scale Systems at the University of Oslo.
News:
15/04/23: I will be joining the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of New Brunswick Saint John as an Assistant Professor starting July 1st! I'm thrilled to join such a vibrant department focused on the coastal ocean.
11/04/23: Our Santa Fe Institute working group Sociality Under Scarcity led by Albert Kao & Helen McCreery published 'Opposing responses to scarcity emerge from functionally unique sociality drivers' today in The American Naturalist.
01/03/23: TORSKETROMMING wraps up another incredible Barents Spektakel! We shared our new sound sculptural installation Dialects of the Deep, a human-cod concert, scientific exhibition, two popular science talks, and 5 children's workshops! Congrats to the team: John Andrew, Anastasia, Maja, Paul, Susanna, and guests Per Anders & Sainkho.
17/02/23: The ERGA Consortium's new review paper on how genomics can help biodiversity conservation is out today in Trends in Genetics.
11/01/23: Postdoc Jeppe Rasmussen has been awarded a prestigious Carlsberg Foundation Reintegration Fellowship to start his own research program on species monitoring using deep learning-based bioacoustic detectors! We're all immensely proud of his accomplishment.
02/12/22: I'm extremely grateful on behalf of the whole TORSKETROMMING team to receive the 2022 'Formidlingsprisen' ('Communication Prize') at the Institute of Biosciences at the University of Oslo! I will use it to continue to spread the word about the ecology, evolution, and struggles of the cod.
25/10/22: In some whirlwind weeks at the Santa Fe Institute, I led an incredible working group on linking cod sexual networks to populations dynamics (CodNet), shared my academic journey with super-talented complexity postdocs, and participated in the unparalleled Interplanetary Festival. Amazing people + amazing science = some of the best weeks of my career to date!
28/09/22: Thrilled to be a part of the global team launching Biodiversity Genomics Europe today! I will lead the University of Oslo's contributions to the project: community sampling and sequencing "difficult" species for reference genome generation of European biodiversity. Read more: 'Forskere vil samle DNA fra alle arter i Europa - for det er for sent'.
21/09/22: Speaking at a public meeting on the cod crisis in Skagerrak/Oslofjord, I was delighted to meet so many engaged fishers and members of the public who are concerned with these issues. Coincidentally, our new paper 'Warming accelerates the onset of the molecular stress response and increases mortality of larval Atlantic cod' was published today!
22/08/22: New preprint! 'Comparison of de novo and reference genome-based transcriptome assembly pipelines for differential expression analysis of RNA sequencing data'. Stay tuned for the companion paper about the biological findings!
16/07/22: Our sound sculptural performance work Cod Connection (part of TORSKETROMMING) showed at Torsken Kunstfestival in Grimstad this weekend. Fun to see it develop in a new context! Stay tuned for Arendal 27/08/22.
11/07/22: Officially joining the Earth Biogenome Project Norway (EBP-Nor) team as the Scientific Coordinator today. Looking forward to bridging national, European, and global efforts to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotes!
19/05/22: Our open access review 'Genomic reaction norms inform predictions of plastic and adaptive responses to environmental change' is out now as part of the special issue Understanding climate change response in the age of genomics at the Journal of Animal Ecology.
30/04/22: We premiered the new iteration of the TORSKETROMMING project at Only Connect Festival of Sound at MUNCH in Oslo through a public lecture, concert, and mobile sound installation.
11/04/22: Our obituary for my late mentor and friend Jeff Hutchings is now available in Fish & Fisheries. We hope to shed light on the breadth and depth of his impact globally on both professional and personal levels.
06/04/22: Wrapping up my time as a JSMF fellow with one last visit to the Santa Fe Institute was as inspiring as ever! So grateful for the support and freedom the JSMF-SFI community gave me over the last few years.
09/03/22: I was honoured to deliver a keynote talk entitled 'Towards forecasting fish responses to environmental change' at the annual LUOVA Spring Symposium at the University of Helsinki.
06/03/22: A new open access paper led by postdoc Jeppe Rasmussen presents a new software for efficiently measuring larval fish size from photographs. It can work with larger fish as well, give it a try!
More...
15/04/23: I will be joining the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of New Brunswick Saint John as an Assistant Professor starting July 1st! I'm thrilled to join such a vibrant department focused on the coastal ocean.
11/04/23: Our Santa Fe Institute working group Sociality Under Scarcity led by Albert Kao & Helen McCreery published 'Opposing responses to scarcity emerge from functionally unique sociality drivers' today in The American Naturalist.
01/03/23: TORSKETROMMING wraps up another incredible Barents Spektakel! We shared our new sound sculptural installation Dialects of the Deep, a human-cod concert, scientific exhibition, two popular science talks, and 5 children's workshops! Congrats to the team: John Andrew, Anastasia, Maja, Paul, Susanna, and guests Per Anders & Sainkho.
17/02/23: The ERGA Consortium's new review paper on how genomics can help biodiversity conservation is out today in Trends in Genetics.
11/01/23: Postdoc Jeppe Rasmussen has been awarded a prestigious Carlsberg Foundation Reintegration Fellowship to start his own research program on species monitoring using deep learning-based bioacoustic detectors! We're all immensely proud of his accomplishment.
02/12/22: I'm extremely grateful on behalf of the whole TORSKETROMMING team to receive the 2022 'Formidlingsprisen' ('Communication Prize') at the Institute of Biosciences at the University of Oslo! I will use it to continue to spread the word about the ecology, evolution, and struggles of the cod.
25/10/22: In some whirlwind weeks at the Santa Fe Institute, I led an incredible working group on linking cod sexual networks to populations dynamics (CodNet), shared my academic journey with super-talented complexity postdocs, and participated in the unparalleled Interplanetary Festival. Amazing people + amazing science = some of the best weeks of my career to date!
28/09/22: Thrilled to be a part of the global team launching Biodiversity Genomics Europe today! I will lead the University of Oslo's contributions to the project: community sampling and sequencing "difficult" species for reference genome generation of European biodiversity. Read more: 'Forskere vil samle DNA fra alle arter i Europa - for det er for sent'.
21/09/22: Speaking at a public meeting on the cod crisis in Skagerrak/Oslofjord, I was delighted to meet so many engaged fishers and members of the public who are concerned with these issues. Coincidentally, our new paper 'Warming accelerates the onset of the molecular stress response and increases mortality of larval Atlantic cod' was published today!
22/08/22: New preprint! 'Comparison of de novo and reference genome-based transcriptome assembly pipelines for differential expression analysis of RNA sequencing data'. Stay tuned for the companion paper about the biological findings!
16/07/22: Our sound sculptural performance work Cod Connection (part of TORSKETROMMING) showed at Torsken Kunstfestival in Grimstad this weekend. Fun to see it develop in a new context! Stay tuned for Arendal 27/08/22.
11/07/22: Officially joining the Earth Biogenome Project Norway (EBP-Nor) team as the Scientific Coordinator today. Looking forward to bridging national, European, and global efforts to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotes!
19/05/22: Our open access review 'Genomic reaction norms inform predictions of plastic and adaptive responses to environmental change' is out now as part of the special issue Understanding climate change response in the age of genomics at the Journal of Animal Ecology.
30/04/22: We premiered the new iteration of the TORSKETROMMING project at Only Connect Festival of Sound at MUNCH in Oslo through a public lecture, concert, and mobile sound installation.
11/04/22: Our obituary for my late mentor and friend Jeff Hutchings is now available in Fish & Fisheries. We hope to shed light on the breadth and depth of his impact globally on both professional and personal levels.
06/04/22: Wrapping up my time as a JSMF fellow with one last visit to the Santa Fe Institute was as inspiring as ever! So grateful for the support and freedom the JSMF-SFI community gave me over the last few years.
09/03/22: I was honoured to deliver a keynote talk entitled 'Towards forecasting fish responses to environmental change' at the annual LUOVA Spring Symposium at the University of Helsinki.
06/03/22: A new open access paper led by postdoc Jeppe Rasmussen presents a new software for efficiently measuring larval fish size from photographs. It can work with larger fish as well, give it a try!
More...
Photo credit: Maja Wilhite-Hannisdal
|
All photos are mine unless otherwise specified. This site is optimized for desktop/tablet, so strange things can happen on a mobile/tablet.