Kiran Lee

Project: Genomics of inbreeding in Seychelles warblers.

After a species’ population crashes, inbreeding between remaining individuals is expected to negatively effect the fitness of individuals in subsequent generations. In the Seychelles warbler, the global population has recovered from <30 birds on a single island, Cousin, to a population of several thousand, in just 50 years on multiple islands thanks to both habitat restoration and translocation.

For my PhD, I will study the effects of inbreeding in the Seychelles warbler population on Cousin island, by analysing the genomes of 1,500 warblers, in combination with complete life history data collected over the last 20 years from fieldwork. The results will help inform management plans for this and other species of conservation concern.