About me

Bio

I’m a 3rd year PhD student funded by the NERC GW4+ DTP alliance in the UK. My focus lies in understanding ecosystem interactions and adaptations in changing environments using genomics. Currently, I am working on parasite and pathogen detection using shotgun and amplicon sequencing in wildlife surveillance of Antarctic penguin populations. To do this, I employ a range of skills gathered from my field, laboratory and computational experience.  

 

I have a keen interest in evolutionary ecology, molecular ecology and conservation. One of my great desires is to share my research with others for the benefit of nature. Throughout my PhD, I have brought storytelling to the forefront of my work, and have received multiple grants and awards for my research.  

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Education

I completed my undergraduate degree at The University of Dublin (Trinity College), where I specialised in Zoology. Throughout my degree, I received a varied education in topics such as parasitology, ecology, conservation and evolution. I participated in field courses across multiple locations both in Ireland and abroad. My undergraduate thesis “An investigation into the acoustic and morphological variation of the Lemon-Bellied White Eye (Zosterops chloris) across South-East Sulawesi” has been included in a paper published in the Linnean Society journal and received an award for best undergraduate research. 

 

My masters degree was at Imperial College London (Silwood Park Campus), where I broadened my skills in computational biology, statistical analysis and genomics. I completed two research projects – “Investigating the link between signal evolution and speciation in suboscine birds using comprehensive trait datasets” with Dr. Joseph Tobias and “Incorporating gene flow into estimates of recent effective population size using the number of independent origins in soft selective sweeps” with Prof. Austin Burt and Dr. Bhavin Khatri.

Academic Prizes & Awards

  • Research Computing Accelerator Award for HPC computing – £ 5,721.50 (2023)
  • Engage Grants Progression Fund (Public Engagement Department – University of Bath) for solo exhibition at Somerscience festival – £2,500 (2022)
  • Trans-Antarctic Association Grant: “Metagenomics as a method of parasite and pathogen detection in penguinfaecal samples” (2021) – £1,500
  • NERC Environmental Omics Grant: “Environment driven changes in penguin gut microbes and parasites” (2021) – £9,000
  • Westarctica Conservation Scholarship – £500 
  • W.C. Campbell Undergraduate Moderatorship Prize awarded for best overall result in final year Zoology (2018)
  • W.C. Campbell Undergraduate Research Prize for best overall research project in final year Zoology (2018)
  • Gold Medal awarded by Trinity College Examination Board for exceptional final examination results (2018)
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