Keynote Speakers
Magnus Nordorg
Genome Architecture
Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria
He tries to understand how evolution works, and how it has shaped the world we live in. As Theodosius Dobzhansky famously noted, “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” His research is quantitative and involves statistical and computational analysis of genomic data in addition to field and bench work. While empirical work focuses on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, he also works on other species, including primates.
Martin Lysak
Plant Evolution
CEITEC, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Genome evolution in crucifers (Brassicaceae) is his leading research theme. He is analyzing the incidence, mechanisms, and rate of chromosome rearrangements, sequence structure of chromosome breakpoints, modes of centromere shift and elimination, the evolution of repetitive sequences, and reconstructing ancestral genomes. He is testing causal links between whole-genome duplication events, karyotypic variation, and species radiations.
Sarah Knowles
Microbiome Ecology
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK
Her research focusses on the mammalian microbiome in the wild. Using wild mice and other rodents as model systems, her group studies both what shapes the microbiome in natural settings but also how it impacts the host. She does this by combining field studies, experiments, computational and comparative approaches.
Hanna Kokko
Evolutionary Ecology
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Her research is focused on the evolutionary ecology of sexual and asexual reproduction, analysis and management of animal populations, the evolution of reproductive and social strategies, sustainability science.
Matthew Hayward
Wildlife Ecology
School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia
His research interests include the conservation ecology of threatened species, the factors that threaten them and the methods we can use to effectively conserve them. He has researched these conservation issues in Australia, South Africa and Poland on marsupials, rodents, reptiles, invertebrates, ungulates, and large predators. He also has experience in conservation management (reintroduction, pest animal control, conservation fencing, fire management) and has sat on several Australian threatened species recovery teams.
Andrea Migliano
Human Evolution
Department of Anthropology, University of College London, UK
Her research interests are the evolution of human phenotypic and behavioural diversity, life history theory, hunter-gatherers studies.
Michael R. Miller
Conservation Genomics
Department of Animal Sciences, The University of California, Davis, USA
His research is focused on animal genetics and genomics; conservation and ecological genetics and genomics; genomics and bioinformatics technology development; salmonid fishes.