Catherine E Grueber Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Conference 2016

Catherine E Grueber

My passion is trying to understand how population genetics and evolutionary theory apply to the real-world management problems in threatened species conservation. By examining the genetic and fitness consequences of inbreeding, selection, and genetic drift in natural populations, I resolve to learn how we can better manage threatened species. I completed by PhD in 2010 at the University of Otago, where I studied the effects of inbreeding in a highly endangered bird, the takahe. Later, I conducted my first post-doc examining the roles of selection and drift (particularly on TLR immune genes) in 10 threatened birds, especially a bottlenecked population of NZ robin. In 2014, I joined Prof Kathy Belov’s research group at the University of Sydney in a postdoctoral position sponsored by San Diego Zoo Global. We are using next-generation sequencing techniques to monitor and manage the processes that impact genetic diversity in captive and wild Tasmanian devil populations. I am pleased to work alongside conservation practitioners here in Australia and abroad, to help build creative questions and outcomes that influence both the conservation industry and the broader scientific community.