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PhD Candidate, Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, University of Leicester

I am a PhD student at the University of Leicester. I am studying the genomics of social organisation, focusing on the genomic basis of polymorphic social organisation in ants. Specifically I am investigating the evolution of "social chromosomes", which function similarly to sex chromosomes but control the number of reproductive queens in ant colonies.

More generally I am interested in the major transitions in evolution, and the common themes in the evolution of new levels of biological organisation (for example the transitions from individual replicators to whole genomes, from single-celled to multicellular organisms, and the transitions from free-living to eusocial insects) and their subsequent elaboration.

Experience

  • 2016–2020
    PhD student, University of Leicester

Education

  • 2015 
    University of Hull, MBiol Biology with Molecular Bioscience

Publications

  • 2015
    ReproPhylo: An Environment for Reproducible Phylogenomics, PLOS Computational Biology

Grants and Contracts

  • 2018
    Heredity Fieldwork Grant
    Role:
    Ant collecting in Spain
    Funding Source:
    Genetics Society

Professional Memberships

  • Genetics Society