Preliminary workshop announcement (final dates TBC)

This 3-day workshop will be based on Conservation and the Genomics of Populations (3rd edition, Allendorf et al. 2022). It will provide a comprehensive overview of the essential background, concepts, and tools required to understand how genetics and genomics can be used to conserve species, reduce the threat of extinction and manage species of ecological or commercial importance.

New genomic techniques and statistical analyses are crucial tools for the conservation geneticist. This workshop will provide an essential toolkit grounded in population genetics theory, coupled with basic and applied research examples from plants, animals, and microbes. The workshop will examine genetic and phenotypic variation in natural populations, the principles and mechanisms of evolutionary change, evolutionary response to anthropogenic change, and applications in conservation and management.

Topics

• Genomic variation in populations
• Hardy-Weinberg principle
• Genetic drift & effective population size
• Natural selection
• Mutation
• Gene flow & population structure
• Multiple loci
• Hybridization
• Inbreeding depression
• Units of conservation
• Demography and extinction
• Exploited populations
• Climate change
• Genetic monitoring