I am a MSc student part of BiGTREE.
Project description My MSc focuses on simulating population-level data under common scenarios of population split and divergence to test how can we improve the power of GWAS-based approaches. Using SLiM, an evolutionary simulation framework, I am coding two main scenarios: a single population where a trait arises and is maintained; and a two-population model where the trait evolves in one population and spreads to the second via gene flow.
The goal of this research is to understand how a population’s evolutionary histories and the characteristics of the trait influence the detection of genes of interest and to provide recommendations for conducting GWA studies. For this end, the genomic data will be generated while varying population sizes, gene flow ratios, selection coefficients, and the genetic architecture of the trait. This will allow us to ultimately assess the effectiveness of common GWAS methods in detecting these traits with different sample sizes.
Co-supervisors and project collaborators Jonathan Fenn, Jorge Luis Ramirez Malaver, Erik Sandertun Røed, Mark Ravinet