The trial lecture is: "The application of temporal genome-scale datasets to the study of evolutionary processes".
Time and place: March 2, 2023 10:15 AM, Zoom and Nucleus, Bikuben, The Kristine Bonnevie building.
The events will also be live streamed using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the events.
The events opens for participation just before they start, and closes for new participants approximately 15 minutes after it has begun.
Main research findings
This is a thesis about the Atlantic herring – a small, unassuming silver fish that holds a special place in the hearts and history of many northern Europeans. Having been fished for thousands of years in the north Atlantic, herring have had a long, intertwined relationship with us. Their impact on humans – wealth, culture, nutrition – is well-documented. Yet our impact on them is less well-characterized. In order to assess the impact humans have had on the Atlantic herring, I collected archaeological herring specimens from around Europe and used these bones for ancient DNA analysis. These analyses were then used to reconstruct herring demography from the last 1200 years and compare demographic trends with existing historical, archaeological, and palaeoclimate data. This research required the development of new approaches in theory, computation, and laboratory work in order to mitigate the challenges associated with using archaeological remains. These newly-developed techniques were applied to a case study, the Baltic herring. I found dramatic impacts on herring populations in the Baltic that are consistent with classic patterns of serial resource depletion beginning 1200 years ago. Research such as this can provide crucial information for sustainable management as we as a society deal with the issues of anthropogenic pollution and climate change and ongoing over-exploitation in the marine environment.
Adjudication committee
Professor M Thomas P Gilbert, University of Copenhagen
Assistant Professor Nina Overgaard Therkildsen, Cornell University
Professor Leif Asbjørn Vøllestad, University of Oslo
Chair of defence
Researcher Joël Durant, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Associate Professor Bastiaan Star, University of Oslo
Professor James H. Barrett, NTNU University Museum