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Events

Upcoming events hosted by or involving Genetics Otago will be listed here. Please check back regularly for updates. A calendar of events that may be of interest to our members can be found at the bottom of this page and in the sidebar of other pages on this site, please note that this includes events hosted outside of Genetics Otago.

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VISG Seminar Series


The Virtual Institute of Statistical Genetics (VISG) Hub is a key part of Genetics Otago, providing a platform for researchers to collaborate and exchange knowledge and expertise in statistical genetics. The VISG Hub hosts seminars, workshops, and other events to promote statistical genetics research and foster collaboration between researchers.

We’re excited to announce our monthly genetics research seminars, aimed at connecting researchers in the field. The seminars will commence in May 2023 and will be hosted by GO’s Virtual Institute of Statistical Genetics (VISG) Hub along with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Otago. These seminars will be available in person or via Zoom, and all are welcome.

Date: 3rd Thursday of the month
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Schedule

  • May: Associate Professor Phil Wilcox, University of Otago
  • June: Professor Mik Black, University of Otago
  • July: Dr Ludovic Dutoit, University of Otago – please note that this seminar will be held on the 27th of July rather than the 20th due to ICG.
  • August: Dr Setegn Alemu, AgResearch
  • September: Ee Cheng Oi, Abacus Bio
  • October: Franziska Weik, Beef + Lamb NZ Genetics – Cancelled
  • November: Dr Jane Symonds and Dr Megan Scholtens, Cawthron – please note that this seminar will be held on the 17th of November rather than the 16th due to the Genetics Otago Annual Symposium.

Zoom Details
If you would like the Zoom details for this event, please contact us.

Next Seminar

The next seminar will be held on Friday the 17th of November, 11 am in Biochemistry Seminar Room G13 and will be given by Dr Jane Symonds and Dr Megan Scholtens, Cawthron Institute.

Title: Environmental resilience in aquatic species

Abstract: The New Zealand aquaculture sector faces growing vulnerability due to climate change, with marine heatwaves already causing elevated summer mortality rates in Greenshell mussels and king (Chinook) salmon. To tackle these challenges, selective breeding and genomic selection offer long-term solutions. Temperature challenge models, implemented in controlled tank environments, have been developed for both species. So far, this approach has been applied successfully to test more than 230 pedigree king salmon families and 21 Greenshell mussel families. Heritabilities for time to death at elevated temperature were high (0.34 to 0.48) suggesting that selection for improved thermotolerance is possible.

Megan Scholtens

Megan is a geneticist within the Aquaculture Group at Cawthron and is involved in a number of research projects across the ‘Shellfish Aquaculture’ and ‘Finfish Climate Change Adaptation’ platforms. Megan specialises in the application of genetic and genomic methodologies to enhance the understanding of how genes affect traits such as growth, development, behaviour, reproduction and immunity to improve the efficiency, resilience and survivability of aquatic species. In addition, Megan contributes to research activities of the Aquaculture team by integrating the experimental biology with commercial production to help provide solutions for clients and deliver tangible outcomes for the aquaculture industry.

Jane Symonds

Jane is a Senior Scientist and Team Leader in the Aquaculture Group at Cawthron. Jane’s focus is the application of research to enhance sustainable commercial production with a specific interest in king salmon farming and selective breeding. She has over 30 years of experience in this field. As a science programme leader she oversees a wide range of multi-disciplinary collaborative projects with internal and external partners, including salmon feed efficiency, genomics, behaviour, health, physiology, microbiomics, climate change adaptation, data science and developing trials to selectively breed resilient and efficient king salmon. Implementation of research for sustainable and profitable aquaculture development is a key driver for Jane. Dr Symonds is also a Senior Adjunct Researcher at the University of Tasmania and helps supervise multiple post-graduate students.

If you have any questions about this seminar series please contact us.

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Calendar of Events

The below is a calendar of events hosted by GO as well as events hosted by others that may be of interest to our members. If you have an event you would like us to include please contact us here.


Jun
23
Thu
Single Cell Sequencing Mini Symposium @ BIG13, Ground floor Biochemistry
Jun 23 @ 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Jun
27
Mon
Special Seminar – Genome-wide association studies in gout @ BIG13, Ground floor Biochemistry
Jun 27 @ 11:15 am – 1:00 pm
Aug
23
Tue
Special Seminar – Prof Andrew Pask @ D'Ath Lecture Theatre
Aug 23 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Professor Andrew Pask (School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne) is visiting Dunedin next week and will be giving a special seminar on Tuesday 23rd August at 1 pm in the D’Ath Lecture Theatre.

Prof. Pask has worked on marsupial development and genetics for over 20 years. He heads up the Thylacine integrated genomic restoration research lab (TIGRR) and the evo-devo-repro lab in the School of BioSciences. His research is exploring novel ways to conserve marsupials and de-extinct the thylacine.

See attached poster for full details and Zoom link.

May
9
Tue
eDNA Hub Special Seminar: Prof Mike Bunce @ Biochemistry Seminar room G13
May 9 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Bunce Seminar

Please note the change in time and venue for this seminar due to the Stop Work meeting being held from 12 – 2 pm on the 9th of May.

May
25
Thu
Inaugural Professorial Lecture (IPL) – James Ussher @ Castle 1 Lecture Theatre
May 25 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

It’s a team game: a research journey in infection and immunity

About Professor James Ussher’s research

James is an immunologist and a clinical microbiologist (at Southern Community Laboratories) whose research programme is focussed on the immune response to infection and on antibiotic resistance.

His laboratory is investigating the role of innate-like T-cells in anti-bacterial immunity and how they might be harnessed to prevent infection. They also contribute to several vaccine development projects. In addition, his laboratory uses whole genome sequencing of antibiotic resistant bacteria to identify outbreaks and track transmission pathways to enable interventions.

He is involved in collaborative research projects in New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia, and the United Kingdom.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he co-led the establishment of the Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand – Ohu Kaupare Huaketo (VAANZ), a multi-institutional team of researchers and industry focused on building New Zealand’s capability and platforms for vaccine development. He was a member of the Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce and is a member of the COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group.

Streaming information for Professor James Ussher

This event will be live-streamed, from 5:25pm Thursday 25th May 2023, at the following web address:

Professor James Ussher’s IPL video stream

Test your connection to the streaming service here

May
30
Tue
Variant Analysis Hub Seminar – Prof Wyeth Wasserman @ St David Seminar Room A
May 30 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Jun
1
Thu
eDNA Hub Seminar – Dr Quentin Mauvisseau @ D'Ath Lecture Theatre, Hercus Building
Jun 1 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Jun
15
Thu
RNA-seq data analysis workshop @ Online
Jun 15 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

This online workshop is delivered by Genomics Aotearoa and NeSI, and will be taught from 10:00am-4:00pm NZT on the Thursday 15th of June, 2023. It is for New Zealand researchers interested in RNA-seq data analysis.

The focus of this workshop is to analyse RNA-seq data with the aim to identify differentially expressed genes.

 

Some of the topics covered in the workshop are:

– Quality assessment

– Trimming and filtering

– Mapping and read counts

– Differential expression analysis

– Over-representation analysis

 

Who this workshop is for

This is a beginner-friendly workshop which assumes you are familiar with the basics of R ( e.g., you can copy basic functions like head, tail, or colSums, you are aware of how R stores files as Objects) and bash (e.g., can change directory with cd command, make a new folder with mkdir command, view contents using less command). If you would like a refresher on R you can find one here. If you would like a refresher on bash you can find one here.

 

Setup

This is a fully online, hands-on workshop. This workshop material will be run on the NeSI High Performance Computing (HPC) platforms – there is no need to install any software for this workshop. Instructions on how to access the NeSI HPC service will be sent out with the confirmation letter to registrants.

The material for this workshop can be previewed here: https://genomicsaotearoa.github.io/RNA-seq-workshop/

Participants must have their own laptops and plan to participate actively. You will require a working web browser.

 

If you have any questions about these workshops, including whether they are suitable for you, please contact tyler.mcinnes@otago.ac.nz.

VISG Seminar Series @ Biochemistry Seminar Room G13
Jun 15 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Jun
20
Tue
ANCIENT DNA – FRIENDS IN FOCUS @ Barclay Theatre
Jun 20 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Friends in Focus
Dr Nic Rawlence is the Director of the University of Otago’s Paleogenetics Laboratory. He spends his days excavating fossil sites and examining specimens in museum basements, all the while methodically analysing, researching and teaching on Aotearoa’s biggest and tiniest taoka.

With a research background in ancient DNA, the evolution of New Zealand’s extinct biodiversity, and the impacts climate change and humans have had on this prehistoric ecosystem, Dr Rawlence has plenty of insight into a world lost to time.

In this month’s edition of the Friends in Focus talk series, he will dive into what the latest discoveries using ancient DNA can tell us about the evolution of New Zealand’s taoka species and their future in a fast changing world.

Come along and hear from a leading New Zealand expert on this fascinating subject.

12.10pm, Tuesday 20 June
Barclay Theatre
Free – Koha Appreciated