GMGI Fisheries Scientist Tim O’Donnell at Gloucester’s City Hall
Thanks for joining us tonight to hear from Tim O’Donnell, GMGI Fisheries Scientist! Below is some information on what you can expect from tonight’s talk.
Have questions for Tim? Please hold them until the Q&A session after Tim’s talk.
Timeline
5:30p Doors open
6:00p Opening remarks from Dr. Marc Vidal, GMGI Co-founder
6:10p Tim O’Donnell’s presentation
6:45p Q&A
7:00p Wrap
Key Terms
Environmental DNA (eDNA): organismal DNA that can be sampled in the environment (such as sediment and seawater), without directly sampling the individual organism.
eDNA metabarcoding: a sequencing technique used to assess the biodiversity of a sample by providing the species composition of a group of organisms.
Population genetics: the study of the genetic composition of populations, including distributions and changes in genotypes over time and geographic space.
Epigenetics: the study of processes that alters gene activity without changing the DNA sequence itself.
Close-kin mark-recapture: a technique using genetic relatedness to estimate the true census size of a population.
Tim O’Donnell Background
Tim O’Donnell is a freshwater and marine fish researcher with an emphasis on answering applied fisheries questions using molecular tools. He comes to GMGI from Charleston, SC where he worked at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources as a wildlife biologist concentrating on population genetics in a variety of commercially and recreationally important estuarine and marine fish species. Prior to his employment at the SCDNR, Tim earned his M.S. in marine biology at the College of Charleston studying the spatial and temporal genetic population structure of spotted seatrout off the coast of the southeastern United States. Tim’s interest in molecular biology and the marine environment was piqued during his undergraduate studies at Penn State where he earned his B.S. in wildlife and fisheries science and independently researched endosymbiont communities in tropical corals using molecular techniques. When not at work, Tim enjoys cooking, fishing, hiking, and cheering on the Nittany Lions on the gridiron.
