Research

2010 Research Goals:

  1. To be international leaders in the development and application of new genomic and biomathematical techniques to fundamental questions in molecular evolution and ecology;
  2. To use this knowledge to gain an unprecedented understanding of New Zealand’s biota, its past and future, and to foster a national research network to achieve this;
  3. To ensure this knowledge also supports the conservation of biodiversity and provides new insights into the history and impact of human settlement in New Zealand and the Pacific.

These goals are underpinned by two Research Themes focusing on the dual strengths of the Centre - Genomics and Biomathematics -  as technical tools to study the natural environment (Biodiversity and Human Impacts). Each theme comprises three activities:

1. G enomics and Biomathematics – Forefront Research in our Disciplines

A.   Making cutting-edge technologies available to New Zealand
B.   Using new genetic knowledge for molecular ecology and evolution
C.   Analytic and predictive modelling in ecology and evolution

2.  Biodiversity and Human Impacts – Ensuring Translational Impacts
A.   Biodiversity knowledge and strategy for New Zealand
B.   Tracing the origins and histories of the peoples and biota of New Zealand and the Pacific
C.  Genetic studies in health, agriculture and environmental change

 

New Research Projects in 2010 from Major Awards to Allan Wilson Centre Researchers

James Cook Fellowships– Full-time research in 2010 - 2011

  • Mike Steel (PI, University of Canterbury)

 

Marsden Fund projects commencing in 2010:

  • Thomas Buckley (PI, Landcare Research) - Evolution of cold tolerance in New Zealand alpine stick insects
  • Thomas Buckley (PI, Landcare Research) - The evolution of animal genitalia: does sexual conflict drive the rapid evolution of complex male structures in moths?
  • Lara Shepherd  & Barbara Holland (Research Fellow, Massey University) - Untangling complex evolution: when the Tree of Life is not a tree at all
  • Lisa Matisoo-Smith (PI, University of Otago) - Redrawing the Polynesian Triangle: Did Polynesian settlement extend to South America?
  • Richard Newcomb (PI, Plant and Food Research Ltd) - Channelling scent: how insects smell using ligand-gated calcium channels
  • Charles Semple and Mike Steel (PIs, University of Canterbury) - New mathematical tools to unravel complex ancestry
  • Vaughan Symonds (Research Fellow, Massey PN) - Gene function in context: from molecules to morphology

 

In addition to new work in many areas, Allan Wilson Centre researchers will continue developing a wide range of ongoing projects that support our key Research Goals and Research Themes.

AWC Research Committee

The AWC Research Committee oversees the research in the Centre. Memebers of this Committee are:
Charles Daugherty
Mike Steel
Lisa Matisoo-Smith/Hamish Spencer
Nigel French
Richard Newcomb

AWC Scientific Advisory Panel

Research in the AWC is undertaken under the guidance of the AWC Scientific Advisory Panel. Members of this Panel are:

FredProfessor Fred Allendorf
Regents Professor
University of Montana
Research Interests: Conservation Biology
Webpage


CannProfessor Rebecca Cann

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
University of Hawai'i
Research Interests: Molecular Genetic Methods to study Population Dispersal and the Maintenance of Variation
Webpage


GravesProfessor Jenny Graves

Comparative Genomics, RSBS
The Australian National University
Research Interests: Mammalian Genome Organisation and Evolution
Webpage


AryProfessor Ary Hoffman

Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology
University of Melbourne
Research Interests: Evolutionary Genetics
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HusonProfessor Daniel Huson

Professor of Algorithims in Bioinformatics
Universitat Tubingen
Research Interests: Computational Biology
Webpage


SarreAssociate Professor Stephen Sarre

Associate Professor in Wildlife Genetics
University of Canberra
Research Interests: Conservation Biology
Webpage


SimonProfessor Chris Simon

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
Research Interests: Patterns of Evolution, Processes of Evolution
Webpage


vonDr Arndt von Haeseler

Head of Centre for Integrative Bioinfromatics Vienna (CIBIV)
Max F Perutz Laboratories
Research Interests: Alignment, Sequence Evolution Gene Trees, Population Genetics, Complex Patterns of Evolution
Webpage