People
Prof. Cynthia Riginos
AIMS & UQ Chief Investigator
Cynthia Riginos is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland. She is an evolutionary biologist with wide-ranging interests spanning population genomics, land & seascape genetics, molecular ecology, phylogeography, biogeography, speciation, hybridisation, invasive species, and conservation. Overall, her research seeks to understand how marine biodiversity is created, where that biodiversity has accumulated, and how this knowledge can be used preserve biodiversity and the processes that create it in a changing world. Cynthia is especially fond of reef fishes, molluscs, and corals but easily distracted by other taxa as well. She is an associate editor for Molecular Ecology, Molecular Ecology Resources, and the Journal of Biogeography. She is a founding member of both the Diversity in the Indo-Pacific Network (DIPnet), a consortium seeking to promote open data exchange and collaboration among genetic research groups and students working in the Indo-Pacific region, and the Genetic Observatories Metadatabase (GEOME), an infrastructure for linking accessioned genotypes with their spatial and other collecting metadata. Cynthia has been at UQ since 2006 and previously held an endowed postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Evolution & Comparative Genomics at Duke University. Her PhD (2000) and Master’s (1998) degrees are both from the University of Arizona in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Dr. Iva Popovic
AIMS Research Scientist
Evolutionary genomics of marine invertebrates
Email: iva.popovic@uq.net.au
Dr. Katharine Prata
AIMS Post-doc
Spatial population genetics
Email: kepra3@gmail.com
My research focuses on the spatial population genomics of corals. I am currently working on estimating per-generation dispersal distances and genetic neighbourhoods in corals using classical population genetic theory. Estimating dispersal distances and likely mating neighbourhoods is important for accurately predicting demographic processes as well as the potential movement of adaptive genes. My other interests are inferring demographic histories, hybridisation, inbreeding, environmental niche differentiation in cryptic coral species and combining photogrammetric mapping with high resolution genomic data to understand population genetic processes.
Chuan Lei
PhD Candidate
Hybrid speciation in anemonefishes
Supervisors: Hobbs, Cheney, & Riginos Email: c.lei@uq.net.au
Zoe Meziere
PhD Candidate
Genetic diversity and climate change adaptation in corals of the Great Barrier Reef
Supervisors: Riginos, Popovic, Pandolfi
Email: z.meziere@uq.edu.au
Samantha Howitt
PhD Candidate
Genomic analysis of Crown-of-Thorns seastars
Supervisors: Riginos & Popovic Email: s.howitt@uq.net.au
Ilha Byrne
PhD Candidate
Conservation genomics of corals
Supervisors: Riginos, Popovic & Beger Email: i.byrne@uq.net.au
Hisatake Ishida
PhD Candidate
Hologenomics of symbiont microbes
Supervisors: Chan & Riginos
Email: hisatake.ishida@uq.net.au
Kimberley Dunbar
PhD Candidate
Dispersal, gene flow, and range shifts of marine organisms
Supervisors: Riginos & Pandolfi
Email: kimberley.dunbar@uq.net.au
Andrew Khalil
MSc Candidate
Detecting shark eDNA in seafood
Supervisors: Riginos & Klein
Email: andrew.khalil@uq.edu.au
Lab Alumni
Post-docs
Thomas Huelsken
Fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2010-2011)
Lisa Pope
UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2012-2014)
Eric Treml
AIMS Senior Research Scientist Senior Lecturer at Deakin University World Wildlife Foundation Fuller Fellow, ARC Fellow (2007-2011)
Thomas Richards
Environmental consulting
Kevin Bairos-Novak
Post-doc, University of Queensland
PhDs
Ethan Briggs
Post-doc, University of Idaho
Vhon Garcia
Post-doc, University of Adelaide
Kat Prata
PhD 2022
Dean Blower
PhD 2020
Pim Bongaerts
Primary supervisor: Hoegh-Guldberg PhD 2010 – Curator, California Academy of Sciences
Carmen da Silva
Primary supervisor: Wilson PhD 2019 – Endeavour Fellow
Jenny Giles
PhD 2014 Shark Biologist and Wildlife Forensic Scientist
James Hereward
Primary supervisor: Gimme Walter PhD 2013– Research Associate, University of Queensland
Jude Keyse
PhD 2015 – Inala State High School
Libby Liggins
PhD 2014 – Senior Lecturer, Massey University
Andrew Mather
PhD 2016 – Environmental consultant
Ambrocio (Din) Matias
PhD 2019 – Assistant Professor, University of Philippines Diliman
Iva Popovic
PhD 2019 – Research Associate, University of Queensland
Danielle Shanahan
Primary supervisor: Possingham PhD 2010
Joshua Thia
Supervisors: Riginos & McGuigan PhD 2019 – Research Associate, University of Melbourne
MS students
Meredith Kraina
MSc 2018
Adam Dinsdale
Primary supervisor: Buckley MSc 2012
Kristin Douglas
MSc 2008
Sinan-Saleh Kassam
MSc 2022
Chuan Lei
MSc 2020
Honours students
Mariam Khan
2022
Samantha Howitt
2021
Ilha Byrne
2021
Jenny Evans
2018
Lucie Malard
2014
Lachlan Gleeson
2012
Gabriel Dominguez
2011
Carrie Sims
2011
Carla Meers
2010
Andrew Mather
2009
Anna Mirams
2009
Janne Torkkola
2009
Jolene Wong
2008
Gwen David
2007