CBA Workshops

CBA Workshop: Bayesian phylogenetics and macroevolution in RevBayes, presented by Tracy Heath, Iowa State University

CBA technical workshops typically focus on advanced analytical and technical methods, with the primary developers of the methods presenting, across three main areas:

  • population- and phylo-genomics,
  • macro evolution and ecology, and
  • biodiversity informatics.

The Ecogenomics and Bioinformatics Lab (EBL) offers an annual wet lab “Introduction to molecular lab fundamentals” to coincide with new honours and PhD cohorts and also welcomes requests for bespoke experimental and/or training requirements throughout the year.

The CBA also facilitates and supports other activities such as working groups, round table discussions and symposiums that support research development and collaboration across our partner institutions and knowledge exchange amongst scientists, managers and policy makers.

We strongly encourage direct input from post docs and PhD students regarding the types of dry and wet lab training they need for their specific research requirements and interests.

We also support national and international visiting scientists who present a workshop during their time in Canberra.

 

More information

Upcoming events

06
May
2025

Introduction to molecular lab fundamentals 2025 »

6–8 May 2025
The EBL's annual 3-day introductory course to molecular lab fundamentals for Honours and PhD students and other researchers new to molecular lab work.
01
Sep
2025

Complete and accurate annotation of troublesome gene regions »

1–2 September 2025
Ivan Koludarov, Department of Scientific Computing, Technical University of Munich
Ivan Koludarov visiting from the Technical University of Munich's Department of Scientific Computing will present a workshop on genome annotation methods and their application to difficult to annotate multicopy gene families.
08
Oct
2025

Conservation and the genomics of populations »

8–10 October 2025
Professor Fred W. Allendorf, University of Montana, Dr Jennifer Pierson, Australian Wildlife Conservancy
This 3-day workshop presented by Fred Allendorf will provide a comprehensive overview of the essential background, concepts, and tools required to understand how genetics and genomics can be used for conservation and management.

Past events

04
May
2022

Introduction to molecular lab fundamentals »
The EBL is offering a 3-day introductory course to molecular lab fundamentals for new Hons and PhD students (and others) who don’t have a strong genetics/molecular background.
09
Oct
2013

R Bootcamp »
Presented by Australian Bioinformatics Network and supported by the CBA.
21
Nov
2022

A beginner’s guide to population genomics simulations with SLiM and slimr »
An introduction to the genetic simulation software SLiM, including its use and application to some common population genetics questions.
09
Mar
2023

ABCday: Approximate Bayesian Computation in one day (and a half) »
Dr Camille Roux, visiting from Université de Lille, will present a seminar and workshop covering the theory and practice of demographic history and speciation genomics with emphasis on Bayesian methods from genomic data.
26
Nov
2024

ABDF Open Day »
An opportunity to hear about and observe the DiversityScanner at the newly established Australian Biodiversity Discovery Facility and discuss ways of testing and developing this novel technology in Australia.
20
Apr
2023

Advancing taxonomy discussion  »
A round table discussion with Rudolf Meier from Museum fur Naturkunde, on how his rapid, accurate, scalable, and cost-effective species discovery and delimitation methods can benefit Australian systematics and taxonomy.
06
Mar
2020

Bayesian molecular clock dating using genome-scale datasets  »
This workshop will cover molecular dating of phylogenies with Bayesian methods on genome-scale datasets.
26
Mar
2019

Bayesian phylogenetics and macroevolution in RevBayes »
RevBayes provides an interactive environment for statistical computation in phylogenetics. It is primarily intended for modelling, simulation, and Bayesian
30
Nov
2023

BEAST 2 workshop »
In conjunction with Biosystematics 2023, the CBA is hosting a post-conference workshop on phylogenetic analysis software BEAST 2.
06
Apr
2013

BEAST2 workshop »
BEAST is a cross-platform program for Bayesian MCMC analysis of molecular sequences. It is entirely orientated towards rooted, time-measured phylogenies
21
Nov
2016

Biodiversity in R: models and methods for spatial analysis »
Spatial patterns of biological diversity are central to many aspects of ecology, evolution and conservation.
31
Oct
2017

Citizen science and biodiversity in the age of artificial intelligence »
This workshop will examine the risks and opportunities presented by AI in the fields of citizen science and biodiversity.
15
Sep
2014

Computational macroevolution and phylogenetic comparative methods »
CBA will be offering an intensive three day short course on Computational macroevolution and phylogenetic comparative methods, led by Dan Rabosky.
11
Jun
2021

DArT PIP Workshop – Data Ecology Model »
The first stakeholder meeting for the ACT government-funded EcoKDDart project.
16
Sep
2015

Demographic inference for comparative phylogeography using Next-Gen sequence data »
Model-based statistical inference of demographic histories for comparative phylogeographic purposes using Next-Generation sequencing data
08
Nov
2023

Detecting selection »
This one-day workshop presented by Bruce Walsh from the University of Arizona will provide an overview of the wide array of approaches have been proposed to detect selection. 
02
Oct
2014

DNA target enrichment in phylogenomics workshop »
This full-day workshop will outline target DNA enrichment (aka exome capture, hybrid enrichment) as a method of obtaining nucleotide sequence data for
18
Feb
2020

Effects of environmental stress on biodiversity »
The Institute for Applied Ecology’s annual Krebs Lecture is dedicated to Professor Charles Krebs, a Thinker in Residence at the Institute for Applied
15
Jul
2019

Emerging areas of research in Reintroduction Biology »
On the first day of the CBA co-funded Synthesis Group workshop Emerging Areas of Research in Reintroduction Biology, invited participants will be
12
Dec
2022

Estimating biogeographic history with BioGeoBEARS and PhyBEARS »
Developer Nick Matzke provides an introduction to his two powerful software packages for estimating historical biogeography.
30
Sep
2024

Gen3sis: Simulating the evolution of biodiversity »
This workshop aims to develop skills required to simulate biodiversity patterns using MEEMs, and specifically the Gen3sis engine, enabling participants to design experiments and test multiple interconnected hypotheses for the evolution of biodiversity.
08
Apr
2013

Geneious workshop »
Geneious is a DNA, RNA and protein sequence alignment, assembly and analysis software platform, integrating bioinformatic and molecular biology tools into a
01
Jul
2013

Genetic analysis for population studies »
A national workshop on the analysis of population genetic patterns for graduate students and other scientists.
27
Oct
2020

Genetic Diversity: Australian Indicators (G’DAI) Forum »
We have gathered an expert panel to discuss how improved targets for maintenance of genetic diversity could be included in the CBD post 2020, with potential flow-on to Australian government policy.
02
Jun
2015

Genomic and phenomic tools to identify the genetic basis underlying natural variation and adaptation »
The study of adaptation and the evolution of natural systems benefits from recent progresses made in the field of genomics and phenomics. We will demonstrate
21
Nov
2019

Genomics of Australian reptiles and amphibians »
This one day workshop aims to scope a possible Bioplatforms Australia investment in the genomics of Australian reptiles and amphibians.
18
Nov
2015

Hierarchical occupancy-detection modelling »
This 2-day workshop will cover the philosophy of the occupancy-detection modelling framework.
21
Feb
2024

Individual variation in mitochondrial metabolism »
Visiting ecophysiologist Karine Salin from the Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) will present a talk and workshop on mitochondrial metabolism.
13
Sep
2023

Introduction to AusTraits »
An introduction to the open-source database AusTraits - the largest collation of trait data for Australian plants.
03
Apr
2023

Introduction to molecular lab fundamentals 2023 »
The EBL's annual 3-day introductory course to molecular lab fundamentals for Honours and PhD students and other researchers new to molecular lab work.
30
Apr
2024

Introduction to molecular lab fundamentals 2024 »
The EBL's annual 3-day introductory course to molecular lab fundamentals for Honours and PhD students and other researchers new to molecular lab work.
01
May
2023

Leveraging morphological and genomic data to elucidate evolutionary patterns  »
Emma Sherratt and Mario Dos Reiswill present a workshop and seminar each on using genomic and morphological data to study the tree of life.
10
Nov
2019

Long-read, long-reach sequencing workshop »
Applying long-read and long-range DNA sequencing technologies in combination or on their own lets us address outstanding biological questions in genome biology, evolution, and diagnostics.
17
Nov
2023

Macroecology meets hi-tech »
You are invited to a working group to discuss the development of a new CBA initiative investigating the potential of new data sources to unify the three elements of biodiversity - ecosystems, species and genes.
20
May
2022

Mechanistic niche modelling using NichemapR  »
Understanding how climate constrains the distribution and abundance of organisms – an approach using NichemapR
12
Jun
2019

Model-based species delimitation workshop »
With recently developed coalescent-based analytical methods, coupled with technological advances for collecting genomic datasets across many individuals per
20
Nov
2024

Multi-species Coalescent Analysis »
In this workshop Adam Leaché, from the University of Washington, will give an introduction and run through practical activities on coalescent theory and analysis.
04
Apr
2017

Museum genomics in practice »
The purpose of this workshop is to share practitioners' knowledge in how we get next-gen sequencing data (wet lab) and process it (bioinformatics) from “non-model” species and samples of diverse types and quality, including museum and herbarium specimens.
28
Nov
2022

Nanopore sequencing for biosecurity »
A biosecurity-focused workshop that aims to contribute to capacity building and establish a community of practice of Nanopore sequencing focusing on biosecurity and eDNA.
26
Jun
2019

National Environmental Science Program - CBA discussion »
The National Environmental Science Program (NESP) is due for completion in early 2021.
25
Aug
2022

OneDArT end-user engagement workshop: data quality and analytics »
The third end-user engagement workshop to help inform DArT's development of their ecological data capture, storage and analysis platform OneDArT.
28
Mar
2022

OneDArT: Developing an ecological data capture, storage and analysis platform »
The second OneDArT end-user engagement workshop to help inform the development an ecological data capture, storage and analysis platform for biodiversity and biosecurity research.
03
Dec
2015

Phylogenomic analyses using the multispecies coalescent model »
This full-day workshop is part of the Australasian Systematic Botany Society's annual conference and is sponsored by the Centre for Biodiversity Analysis.
18
Jul
2013

Phylogenomics workshop »
CBA phylogenomics workshop using BEAST2 led by Alexei Drummond
07
Dec
2018

Phylogenomics workshop using IQ-TREE »
The recent advent of next-generation sequencing techniques has led to the rapid accumulation of large amounts of phylogenomic / transcriptomic data. This is
26
Aug
2020

Policy Impact Masterclass »
The CBA in collaboration with ANU's Public Policy & Societal Impact Hub are hosting a bespoke Policy Masterclass Workshop for researchers interested in engaging with policy-makers to collaborate in research or increase their research impact
25
Mar
2014

Population and landscape genomics workshop »
The CBA is hosting an intensive 4-day workshop on Population and Landscape Genomics that will combine talks with practical training by invited international experts.
22
Aug
2022

Putting pen to paper: Scientific writing for researchers »
This series of writing workshops aims to provide postgraduate students and ECRs with the foundational skills to write well, and equip them with techniques for tackling academic writing of any kind.
15
Aug
2022

Putting pen to paper: Scientific writing for researchers »
This series of writing workshops aims to provide postgraduate students and ECRs with the foundational skills to write well, and equip them with techniques for tackling academic writing of any kind.
11
Mar
2024

R-evolutionary Insights: Deep dive into SNP-based population genomics  »
A 5-day training workshop run by developers of popular R packages and experienced practitioners to help students and ECRs get the most out their population genomics research using R.
18
Feb
2025

Sequencing, assembling, and annotating genomes with PacBio HiFi data »
Over two days, Paul Frandsen (Brigham Young University) will provide workshop participants with knowledge and hands-on experience in analysing PacBio HiFi sequencing data, running whole genome assemblies, evaluating the quality of their genome assemblies, and will be introduced to whole genome annotation.
11
Mar
2021

slimr: Using R to integrate data and tailor-made population genomic simulations over space and time »
This workshop will introduce slimr, a new development package for the R statistical programming environment designed to create a seamless link between SLiM and the R development environment, with its powerful data manipulation and analysis tools.
04
Dec
2018

SNPs in population- and phylo-genomics »
Have you got large SNP datasets and now are wondering how best to filter the data, to infer population diversity or structure, adaptation, or to delimit species
14
Apr
2020

Spatial genetics in fire-ground fauna »
The devastating fires of the 2019-20 summer impacted some 9M Ha of the eastern forests from SE QLD to eastern Victoria, much of the natural habitats of Kangaroo Island (SA) and the Stirling Ranges (WA).
20
Nov
2023

Stakeholder engagement: Turning lectures into conversations »
This hands-on workshop will show participants how to speak about their research to invite conversation, whether it be amongst other scientists, stakeholders, or the general public.
31
May
2023

Stochastic modelling meets evolutionary biology »
A technical training workshop that will provide an overview of models from matrix-analytic-methods (MAMs) and how they could be used in practical applications.
17
Feb
2019

Taming the BEAST Down Under »
The CBA is pleased to be supporting Taming the BEAST Down Under in Sydney
21
May
2018

TreeScaper: Visualizing and Extracting Phylogenetic Signal from Sets of Trees »
Modern phylogenomic analyses often result in large collections of phylogenetic trees representing uncertainty in individual gene trees, variation across genes,

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