Seminar, November 27th - Ralph Tiedemann

Ralph Tiedemann

Ralph Tiedemann, Profesor at the University of Potsdam has a seminar on 'Population genomics of harbour porpoise and common minke whale in the North Atlantic' at Hafrannsóknastofnun. 

Time: Monday 27th of November at 12:30-13:00
Place: Meeting rooms on 1st floor in Fornubúðir 5, Hafnarfjörður
Stream: Direct on MFRI's YouTube
Lecturer's language: English

Population genomics of harbour porpoise and
common minke whale in the North Atlantic

In this lecture, I will provide an overview of our latest research on harbour porpoise and minke whale population structure as a collaboration between HAFRO and the University of Potsdam, Germany, with an emphasis on increased resolution, when moving from single genetic loci to genome-wide analyses. I will further address how kinship analysis can contribute to stock delimitation and abundance estimation.

For the common minke whale, novel SNP data identify several genetic clusters in the North Atlantic, all of which however co-occur in Icelandic waters. Our data provide mixing proportions which could inform simulations on stock structure in a management context (i.e., at the International Whaling Commission).

For the harbour porpoise, genome-wide analysis do not reveal distinct populations across the North Atlantic. There are however differentiations in the North West of Greenland as well as in the North and Baltic Seas, putatively reflecting locally adapted populations

About Ralph

Ralph Tiedemann is a professor doctor at the University of Potsdam where he is the Chair of Evolutionary Biology and Systematic Zoology. His research interests include speciation, molecular mechanisms, and adaptation in animals with different life histories.

Ralph studied Biology and Computer Science and got a Diploma in Biology in 1990 and a Dr. rer. nat. in Zoology in 1994, both from the University of Kiel. From 1986-1988 he got a grant to study Biology and Icelandic Language at the University of Iceland.

Ralph has worked in cooperation with many institutes in his research, including the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Iceland.