🚨 Publication Alert! 🚨 Curious about how thelytokous (asexual) reproduction shapes genetic diversity in a parasitoid? My first PhD paper is now out, where we explore this fascinating system through a genomic lens. 📄 Paper link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @angmcgaughran.bsky.social

I am beyond thrilled to be a successful recipient of the Mana Tūānuku Research Leader Fellowship – what a way to round off 2025! I would like to thank my wonderful network of collaborators in NZ and around the world for their support and contributions to my research over the years.

Population-scale long-read datasets, involving sequencing and de novo assembly of multiple individuals within a species, are better at capturing the full spectrum of structural variants, but such datasets are rare outside of humans www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #biodiversity #genomics

JOB ALERT - Join us as a lecturer/senior lecturer in plant-microbe interactions in the School of Biological Sciences at Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland. Applications close 31st January 🌱🧪 jobs.smartrecruiters.com/TheUniversit...

Hiring in our school!! Come & join us! 🌐🧪🌏

Foraging ecology drives viral community structure in New Zealand's aquatic birds www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A cheeky repost to highlight our recent publication on data- and culturally-informed conservation management in an #AoNZ endemic seabird for the #conservationgenomics 🧬 and science 🧪 crowd 🤓

What are the ‘social dimensions’ of moving species for conservation and why does engaging with them matter? This is the focus of our new paper doi.org/10.1016/j.tr... on the cover of the Dec issue of TREE @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social led by @aisrayne.bsky.social 🙏 to Kevin Parker for the 📷

We made a podcast for @bioprotection.bsky.social Have a look if you are interested in all things that start with b, Nick singing 80's songs or, perhaps more importantly, why and how to save the planet. bioprotection.org.nz/under-the-le...

Awesome weedy discussion with my phenomenal award winning hoamahi Margaret (with the fab Peter, Amanda and Nick) - our natives need more PR, and let's all be on the lookout for newbies!

Accurate Runs of Homozygosity Estimation From Low Coverage Genome Sequences in Non-Model Species #popgen #consgen doi.org/10.1111/1755...

SING Aotearoa is on! SING Aotearoa 2026 - Ōtepoti (Dunedin) - 8-13 February 2026 Applications for SING Aotearoa 2026 are now OPEN, head to www.singaotearoa.nz. Applications close 15 December. Please share share share with your networks, group chats and socials across the motu.

Please sign this petition to lift the incoming cruel ban on access to puberty blockers for trans young people. our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/re...

I'm delighted to share that our publication 'Nest survival models and genomics illuminate hybridisation attempts, guiding culturally informed management to recover a critically endangered seabird' is out now in Animal Conservation @animalconserv.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1111/acv.... 🧵 1/9

. @josephguhlin.bsky.social and I wrote a thing ( mainly him!) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Puberty blockers: why politicians overriding doctors sets a dangerous precedent

There are excellent expert comments here on the NZ government's puberty blocker ban.

Horrible political meddling in healthcare in Aotearoa. "To me, this is basically cursing an entire generation of young transgender woman to social stigma, to moving through this world and having to deal with so much - I don't have another word for it - violence." www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

The government's cruel decision to ban puberty blockers for trans kids is devastating. Yesterday was for grieving, but today I'm pulling myself up, wearing my most rainbow of dresses in solidarity with every trans kid & their whānau affected. I won't stop fighting.

We have just published a landmark article on genetic diversity and global biodiversity policy, focusing on the CBD. We aim to help researchers, practitioners, & other interested parties understand the KMGBF and achieve its commitments. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

This is upsetting on so many levels. Banning new prescriptions is extremely harmful and doing this during trans awareness week, a few days before the transgender day of remembrance just makes it so much worse. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

New publication out, highlighting the link between genetic diversity (GD) and policy! 🧬📜 "Conserving genetic diversity in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework" www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... We summarize the highlights in this thread. 🧵

Evolutionary dynamics of a lethal recessive allele in reintroduced fragmented lynx populations https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.686959v1

Thanks to @royalsocietynz.bsky.social for awarding me the Callaghan medal for Science Communication. Thanks to my many supporters, NZ communities for being curious, & the many people in various agencies who really do want to use evidence in decision-making. This is critical now, more than ever. 🌐🌏🧪

Siouxsie has forged a path to making science communication a little safer for the rest of us...

Reposting for other time zones! Check this out and please give us a boost! :)

Amazing group of people to work with! @jemmageoghegan.bsky.social @peterkdearden.bsky.social @annasanture.bsky.social @cegrueber.bsky.social And everyone else not on bsky! Double thanks to Janelle for the amazing pictures!

Preprint out now: “Population genomics of yellow‑eyed penguins uncovers subspecies divergence and candidate genes linked to respiratory distress syndrome.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Full press release: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

This was a partnership across the Universities of Otago and Auckland, Department of Conservation, Ngāi Tahu, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, and Genomics Aotearoa, building on national genomics infrastructure (incl. tools first honed with #kākāpō).

#Conservation implications: treating hoiho as three subspecies changes the playbook. Mainland M. a. murihiku needs urgent, tailored action, and genetic rescue from subantarctic birds could risk outbreeding depression by introducing local adaptations younger than the species divergence.

Take‑home on disease: it’s likely host genetics + virus + environment, not a single mutation “on/off” switch. That’s why species‑wide genomics + ARG‑aware GWAS are so powerful here.

Selection scans also show the Southern subspecies have younger TMRCAs (signals of recent selection) in cilia‑related pathways; hair‑like structures lining airways that trap and clear pathogens. This could help explain why Southern chicks resist RDS.

Re: RDS on the mainland. A GWAS within the Northern subspecies and all subspecies flags candidate genes tied to immunity and respiration.

Using ARGs, we can trace population divergence across the genome. This “excess coalescence” plot shows when genomes begin to diverge. The timing aligns with the BEAST-inferred divergence windows, but using separate methodology. (Not in the preprint, BTS!)

Methodologically cool bit: we also used ancestral recombination graphs (ARGs) to time coalescent events & control relatedness in analyses. Hundreds of thousands of local trees support the divergence times based only on mutation rate (generations rather than years ago). #tsinfer #tskit #tsdate.

When did they split? Molecular dating points to ~5–16k years for the Northern vs Southern split and ~3–11k years between the two Southern groups, dating to before human arrival in Aotearoa NZ. (Fig. 3)

With Ngāi Tahu kaitiakitanga, three subspecies are proposed: • M. a. murihiku — mainland “Northern” hoiho • M. a. motu maha — Enderby (Auckland Is) • M. a. motu ihupuku — Campbell Is These lineages are evolutionarily independent.

We sequenced ~249 whole genomes 🧬 spanning the mainland and subantarctic Enderby & Campbell Islands. Result: three distinct genetic lineages, with negligible gene flow among them (See PCA/tree in Fig. 2, and migration rates in supplement)!

On the NZ mainland, there are <150 breeding pairs, and many chicks die from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) caused by a 🦠gyrovirus (YPGV). Subantarctic hoiho carry the virus too, but don’t show disease. Why the difference? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Population genomics reveal three divergent subspecies with urgent #conservation implications. #popgen

A landmark Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka-led study has found the endangered hoiho 🐧 is made up of 3 subspecies, a finding that may help protect the species against fatal disease. “This is a turning point for hoiho conservation," says senior author Professor Jemma Geoghegan. Read more here ⬇️

🐧We researched one of the world’s rarest #penguins. The yellow‑eyed penguin (aka hoiho/takaraka) isn’t one homogeneous species after all! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #hoiho #conservation #genomics #birds #nzwildlife #endangered #wildlife #nature

We did a penguin GWAS! Turns out that yellow-eyed penguins (or hoiho) are actually three very divergent groups, which we are calling subspecies www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @josephguhlin.bsky.social @peterkdearden.bsky.social @annasanture.bsky.social @cegrueber.bsky.social

Over the past year we have done extensive work on re-articulating what we at @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social do, how we do it, and why we do it. The first publicly visible artifact is our new online presence: www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz 1/n

Exciting news! The next #PopGroup meeting will take place in Lille 🍟, France, 7–9 January 2026 – just 1 hour by train from London, Brussels, and Paris. This year, PopGroup will also host ALPHY, the annual meeting of Evolutionary Genomics. More info: populationgeneticsgroup.org.uk See you there !

Our inaugural guest artist Sione Faletau launched his new artwork ‘Ongo mei he fonua – Sounds of soil (contamination)’.

Our inaugural guest artist Sione Faletau worked with Te Pūnaha Matatini Principal Investigator Emma Sharp to transform 1,000 measurements of arsenic and lead into an immersive soundscape and visual projection → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/ongo-m... 🧪

And a special shout-out to @pavelpipek.bsky.social, who went deep into online historical archives to uncover some incredible insights into the minds of 19th-century acclimatisation societies! 🕰️📜 See one of my favorite articles below 👇