Laboratory of Adaptive Evolution and Genomics
Welcome! Our research group began at the University of Namur in January 2022, where we are part of the Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology. I also maintain several ongoing projects with the University of Potsdam, Unit of Evolutionary Biology and Systematic Zoology.
I am recruiting new group members interested in MSc, PhD and postdoc projects. Get in touch if you are interested in joining us!
I am interested in the genomic basis of adaptive variation. I study this by comparing genetic and physiological variation among populations and species. This includes differences in temperature tolerance (especially freezing!), the response to multiple stressors, and between parasitoids and their hosts. Read on for more information about our research group and projects.
Mastodon: @AliceDennis@genomic.social
Twitter: @ADennis1980
Google Scholar
UNamur Profile
News:
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September 2023.
Exciting news: We have received funding from EMBO for a “Workshop to establish state-of-the-art mollusc genomics”
The dates are now fixed as 28-31 May, 2024
More info coming soon. For now, you can sign up here for updates: https://coming-soon.embo.org/w24-54
And if you are generally interested in mollusc genomics – for methods, collaboration, or anything else – join us here: https://mgig.weebly.com/
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August 2023
A new paper by PhD student Thomas Inäbnit has at long last given names to the three cryptic species in the (former) Melampus bidentatus!
Open access article here: https://ssbbulletin.org/index.php/bssb/article/download/9165/7938
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June-July 2022. I am recruiting a PhD student for a TA position in the Department of Biology, Uni Namur!
More information here:
https://jobs.unamur.be/emploi.2022-06-16.2015968385/view
Informal inquiries are welcome. French speakers preferred, but everyone is welcome to get in touch if you are interested.
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Next mGIG (mollusc Genomics Interest Group) meeting:
20 January 2022
Join us and learn more here: mgig.weebly.com
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Upcoming events in mollusc genomics:
1) Assembly discussion: Mytilus edulis on Tuesday August 24th at 4pm Berlin time (10am New York time/ 7am San Francisco). Zoom link in SLACK or email me for details!
2) Save-the-date. The next mGIG general meeting will be on Tuesday September 21st at 5pm Berlin time (11am New York/ 8am San Francisco). More information soon!
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mGIG Assembly Discussion Group:
Zoom link in MOLLUSCience SLACK, or email me!
We are offering these as informal sessions for people to present ongoing assembly projects for feedback in the community. Get in touch if you would like to present your own work.
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The next mGIG meeting will be Tuesday July 6th, at 5pm CET (Berlin time). More details coming soon!
Please visit our new webpage: https://mgig.weebly.com and feel free to send us any information you would like to include there (best is via the contact form on the webpage)
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mGIG meeting 11 May, 2021
Thanks to all who attended. I think things are moving along towards mGIG becoming a good resource for those of us working on mollusc genomics, and hopefully more will come soon!
To access the minutes from today’s meeting, click here
I have uploaded the recording here and the slides I used here
As mentioned in these, we would like to organize small meetings to give people a chance to discuss/improve their assemblies. This will be organized through the #genome_assembly_and_onward channel in MOLLUScience SLACK. There you will find the organizational excel sheet and future posts to arrange meetings (depending on how much interest there is – so please sign up if you are interested)
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** Announcing the next mGIG meeting**
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 (CET / Berlin time)
The meeting will be recorded. Please get in touch if you have anything you would like included in the agenda.
Zoom link in SLACK.
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MOLLUSC GENOMICS INTEREST GROUP (mGIG)
Are you working with genomics in molluscs? Do you want to work with others on collaborations, assembly and annotation methods, and more? Please get in touch if you would like to join our organizational efforts.
You can email me directly at alicebdennis”at”gmail.com for further details and/or to join our main the MOLLUSCience SLACK page, which we have largely been using to communicate.
If you are interested in receiving regular emails to announce meetings and training, sign up at this spreadsheet
If you are interested, please fill out this very brief survey to help guide for future activities
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January 2021. SICB is under way.
It was a lot of fun to stay up late into the night to watch talks in the “Genomic Perspectives in Comparative Physiology of Mollusks” symposium.
We have contributed two posters to the session, also available here and here.
Now to catch up on all of the pre-recorded talks!
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December 2020: Getting ready for SICB 2021!
This year we will take part in the virtual SICB conference.
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July 2020
It was a lot of fun taking part the online Agricultural Genomics Symposium: http://i5k.github.io/ags2020
I presented our recent work on the genomes of Aphidius ervi and Lysiphlebus fabarum. For anyone interested, my slides can be downloaded here.
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May 2020
Out now, the paper describing two new sequenced parasitoid genomes: Dennis et al (2020) Functional insights from the GC-poor genomes of two aphid parasitoids, Aphidius ervi and Lysiphlebus fabarum. BMC Genomics 21, 376
The paper is available open access here
The genomes are available to download from the BIPAA webportal
Alice B. Dennis 