We are a diverse group of evolutionary genomicists who use reptiles as a model to understand adaptation, speciation, host-virus coevolution, and the genomics of small population size. This site contains info about who we are, what work we’ve done, and our values. We are not currently seeking new students but see the Join the Lab page for resources for prospective students.
Lab Updates
Congratulations Dr. Devon Main!
Visiting scholar Dr Devon Main receives his PhD from the University of Johannesburg! His thesis was a phylogenomic investigation into the evolution of Southern African dwarf chameleons (Bradypodion). Some of his notable findings were mitonuclear discordance pointing to a mitochondrial capture event between two species roughly 3 million years ago and widespread nuclear introgression within…
PhD Students Receive Chancellor’s Grants
Congratulations to PhD students Alyssa Vanerelli, Cleo Falvey, and Caden Comsa for each receiving independent research grants from the Chancellor’s Office at Rutgers Camden!
New Post-Doc
After receiving her Ph.D. at Harvard University, Dr. Inbar Maayan received the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology! Her research in the Geneva Lab will focus on the evolution and phylogeography of Jamaican Anolis lizards. See her website for more information about her exciting research!
Alyssa is a CCIB Poster Finalist
Congratulations to Alyssa Vanerelli for winning third place for PhD students at the CCIB Fall Poster Series! She presented her research on assembling the genome for Anolis grahami and using squamate whole genome assemblies to infer a new Squamata phylogeny.
New MS Students
Master’s Students MacKenna Durbin (Biology) and Regan Kenia (CCIB) join the Geneva Lab! Check out People to read more about their exciting research studying adenoviruses.
Sashoya is Accepted to the LAGNiAppE Program
Congratulations to former Geneva Lab undergraduate Sashoya Dougan for being accepted to the LAGNiAppE post-baccalaureate program at Louisiana State University! This program is focused on providing advanced research training to students interested in evolutionary biology to prepare them for careers in STEM fields.
PhD Students Present at JMIH
PhD students Alyssa Vanerelli, Cleo Falvey, and Caden Comsa presented their research at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) in Norfolk, VA! They shared their exciting research studying parallel evolution in Anolis sagrei, assembling atadenovirus whole-genomes, and assembling Anolis mitochondrial genomes. See People for more information about each of their projects.
New PhD Students
Alyssa Vanerelli and Caden Comsa have been accepted into the CCIB PhD program and will continue their research in the Geneva Lab!
New Paper in Mitochondrial DNA Part B
A new paper led by Alyssa Vanerelli and co-authored by fellow Geneva Lab member Caden Comsa out in Mitochondrial DNA Part B! This manuscript presents the complete mitochondrial genome for the critically endangered Silver boa, Chilabothrus argentum. Read this paper here!
Congratulations, Graduates!
Three Geneva Lab students successfully defended their projects and were awarded Master of Science Degrees this year. Caden Comsa, MS Andrew Ebeneezer, MS Setareh Alipour, MS
New Faces in the Lab
The lab has grown since last year! Joining current Master’s students Caden Comsa and Andrew Ebenezer are three new people. Sashoya Dougan is an undergraduate Fellow in the NIH MARC program, Cleo Falvey is a new PhD student awarded an NSF GRFP fellowship, and Alyssa Vanerelli is a PostBac Researcher funded by an NSF REPS…
Genomics Social Hour talk
I was honored at the invitation to speak at this week’s California Academy of Science’s Genomics Social Hour. The topic of the week was Adaptive Radiation on Islands and included talks by Christine Parent and Matthew Knope and me. If you missed it, talks from the social hour are archived on YouTube. Many thanks to…
New Paper on Glacier Biodiversity
Just published in Scientific Reports a description of the animal phyla inhabiting New Zealand’s glaciers. Led by Rutgers–Camden colleague Dan Shain, we describe the presence and diversity of metazoan lineages using phylogenetic and haplotype analyses revealing five animal phyla and multiple distinct lineages with tardigrades and rotifers.
New Paper in Breviora!
Now online in Breviora, a paper led by former undergraduate Emmanuel D’Agostino investigating behavioral reproductive isolation between island populations of Anolis sagrei. Emmanuel watched and carefully analyzed hundred of hours of lizard videos to test if lizards from different islands were more or less likely to mate. He found strikingly little difference among islands but…
Dovetail Webinar
Earlier this summer Anthony presented a webinar as part of the Dovetail Genomics Webinar series. The talk gives some background on our work and includes preliminary results from our efforts creating new genome assemblies from across the diversity of Anolis lizards. It’s online here if you want to check it out.