Mapping Biodiversity and Genetic Diversity across California
Ian Wang, Professor
Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
Genetic diversity is crucial for adaptation and may be a key factor that shapes species responses to climate change, habitat loss, and other stressors. Recently, the California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP) has gathered genomic data for over two hundred species across California in order to inform conservation efforts. This dataset provides a unique opportunity to understand patterns of diversity across the California landscape. The overall goal of this project is to use the CCGP genomic data in combination with publicly available biodiversity and environmental data to understand how range and habitat qualities affect genetic diversity between and within species.
Role: For the first phase of this project, we are looking for an undergraduate researcher to help organize species occurrence data and build species distribution models for each of the CCGP species. This will involve:
-Finding, cleaning, and organizing occurrence and range data from publicly available data sources and existing literature
-Modeling and data analysis in the R programming language
Students will have the opportunity to learn advanced data analysis skills in R including how to work with GIS data, build species distribution models, write bioinformatic pipelines, and more. There is no genetic analysis component to this phase (and, as such, no background in genetics is expected); however students may have the opportunity to help with genetic analyses, if interested.
Work can be conducted in-person or remotely (all work is computational, no field or lab work is required).
Qualifications: Some background in ecology and basic programming skills are recommended, but not required. Most important are organizational skills, attention to detail, an interest in biodiversity, and a willingness to learn.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Anusha Bishop, Ph.D. candidate
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Environmental Issues Biological & Health Sciences