I am a MSc student part of BiGTREE.
Project description Island colonization often results in significant changes to the genetic diversity of populations due to founder effects, genetic drift, and changes of selective pressures. Reduction of population sizes can lead to the accumulation of deleterious mutations that may influence the adaptability of island species. For my MSc’s I will be investigating three subspecies of Heliconius cydno present on Gorgona island. I will study population size changes to determine population bottlenecks, identify and characterize deleterious mutations (genetic load). To address this, I will employ population genomic tools, including demographic analyses and coalescent-based models, to assess the effects of colonization on genetic diversity.
Co-supervisors and project collaborators Alexandra Arias Cardenas, Camilo Salazar, Carolina Pardo-Diaz, Maëva Gabrielli, Mark Ravinet