Lab News
Welcome to the lab Anahy and Krystyn!
10/September/24
This fall we welcomed new PhD student, Anahy Garza, and new MSc student, Krystyn Forbes, to the lab. Anahy was previously at Cal State LA studying the chemical ecology and defense mechanisms of intertidal sea slugs. Krystyn was previously at Vancouver Island University studying mammal genomics. Welcome both to the EEB department!
Ethan won Best Talk at the International Barcode of Life Meeting
10/September/24
In September, Ethan attended the 9th International Barcode of Life Meeting in Belem, Brazil where he presented his work on developing an ONT-based reference library for seagrass associated invertebrates as well as the use of passive eDNA for fish surveys. He was awarded his first Best Talk prize- well done Ethan!
Ethan wins Best Talk at iBOL9
Victoria presented at the Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology
10/September/24
In July, Victoria attended the 3rd Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology in Montreal where she presented her work on population genomics and adaptation in the endangered freshwater pearl mussel. Congrats Victoria on your first conference presentation!
Victoria presenting her work at the Evolution meeting
Ethan presented at the World Seagrass Conference
30/June/24
In June, Ethan attended the 2024 World Seagrass Conference in Naples, Italy where he presented his work on developing an ONT-based reference library for seagrass associated invertebrates as well as the use of passive eDNA for fish surveys. The conference took place in the beautiful Santa Maria la Nova church, hosting over 500 delegates for five fantastic days of seagrass science covering everything from habitat restoration to genomics. Also included was a snorkelling trip to the nearby island of Ischia where Mediterranean seagrasses can be found growing amongst hydrothermal vents!
Ethan at the Stazione Zoologica museum
Welcome to the lab, Jaskaran!
03/June/24
In May, we welcomed undergraduate student Jaskaran Khurana to the lab to complete a Research Opportunity Placement (ROP) for the summer. Jaskaran has been hard at work characterizing shell morphology and siphon colour in cryptic Hiatella. This links to our very early work in Hiatella which demonstrated multiple cryptic species in Canada, and now we're revisiting the samples to see if we can gain a deeper understanding of these ecotypes.
Hiatella lineage L collected in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
New paper alert!
27/March/24
This week we published a paper in Global Change Biology that explores and discusses the utility of genomic forecasting in marine species, providing new avenues for validating genomic offset estimates in these unique systems. Thanks to all members of the ICES working group for contributing to fruitful discussions about this topic!
New paper alert!
20/February/24
This week we published a paper in Ecology and Evolution that employs a newly-discovered, transisthmanian geminate pair to derive divergence rates for chromodorid nudibranchs. We also describe a new species for the western Atlantic and Caribbean clade, Chromolaichma hemera sp. nov. We're continuing to collect samples and describe additional species in this genus so watch this space!
Chromolaichma hemera sp. nov. (credit G. Giribet, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
O Canada!
01/January/24
This winter, the Layton Lab moved from the UK to Canada- you can now find us in the Department of Biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. We had a wonderful few years in Scotland but the future is looking bright for us at UTM and we couldn't be more thrilled! The campus is situated on over 200 acres of green space, providing that perfect urban escape. We'll be busy getting the lab up and running this winter and we look forward to sharing updates with you along the way!
Victoria completes an internship at DFO
Victoria participated in a three month internship with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans working on eelgrass genomics and SDMs with Dr. Nick Jeffery and Dr. Ryan Stanley. This was her first visit to Canada and the first internship of her PhD- well done Vic!
15/December/23
