UCLA/La Kretz Workshop in Conservation Genomics, 22-27 March, 2014
Conservation biology and genetics have had a long
and intimate relationship, and constitute one of
the key applications of evolutionary analysis to
real-world biological problems. The impacts of
population genetics, phylogenetics and
phylogeography have been particularly striking
for conservation biology, and have helped solve
some of the most pressing problems in biological conservation.
As the field of landscape-based
genetics continues to grow and mature, the
increasing availability of genomic-level data,
analytical models and methods stand to make
profound new contributions to our ability to
identify and protect at-risk populations and
recover those that are most endangered. However,
genomic level analyses also carry a heavy
burdendata sets are enormous and often require
diverse computational approaches for assembly, quality control and analysis.
This annual workshop provides a
comfortable, informal training environment for a
small group of motivated graduate students to
explore how conservation problems can best be
addressed with genomic-level data. Our goal is to
provide hands-on experience on the efficient
collection, troubleshooting, and analysis of
large, genome-level data sets for
conservation-relevant problems. One of the
highlights of our workshop is active
participation from members of several US
government agencies who are at the forefront of
endangered species protection and management,
providing a forum for exploring the most relevant
aspects of conservation genomics to managers.
The UCLA/La Kretz workshop is held at the La
Kretz Field Station and the Stunt Ranch Reserve,
both located a few miles apart in the heart of
the Santa Monica Mountains. Only 30 miles from
UCLA (and LAX airport), but nestled in the
relatively undeveloped 160,000 acre Santa Monica
Mountains National Recreation Area, these two
venues provide an ideal location to bring
exciting new developments in genomic science and
pressing needs in conservation and management together in a single workshop.
Our current instructor list, drawn from UCLA, UC
Davis, and UC Berkeley includes:
Mike Alfaro
Gideon Bradburd
Brant Faircloth
Evan McCartney-Melstad
Kirk Lohmueller
Mark Phuong
Brad Shaffer
Victoria Sork
Phil Spinks
Ian Wang
Bob Wayne
Participants from USGS, USFWS, and the US National Park Service
Topics covered include:
Traditional conservation genetics
Next generation platforms: the best tool for the job
Data management pipelines:
Quality Control
Data storage
Data organization
Data analysis:
SNPs
Sequences
Exploring very large data sets
Functional genomic data
Genomic data and GIS
Conservation phylogenomics
Prerequisites
Available housing limits course
enrollment to ~15 students. Preference is given
to doctoral candidates who are in the early to
middle stages of their thesis research, and who
have completed sufficient prerequisites (through
previous coursework or research experience) to
have some familiarity with using a command line
interface or programming languages (i.e. Perl,
python etc.). Postdocs and faculty are welcome to
apply, but our first priority is to graduate student applicants. [BS1]
Admission and Fees
Students will be admitted based on
academic qualifications and appropriateness of
research interests. The course fee is $400. This
includes food and lodging at the La Kretz Field
Station, transportation to and from UCLA to the
venue, and any incidental fees for the duration
of the course (arriving March 22, departing March 27).
Application Forms and Information
Visit the La Kretz Center for
California Conservation Science website for
additional information and to download an application form:
<http://www.environment.ucla.edu/media/files/2014-La-Kretz-Conservation-Genomics-Application-0h-etl.docx>http://www.environment.ucla.edu/media/files/2014-La-Kretz-Conservation-Genomics-Application-0h-etl.docx
Application Deadline
Applications are due by January 17,
2014. Please send a completed application form
and one letter of recommendation from your major
advisor. Students will be notified via e-mail by
January 24, 2014 of acceptance.
Applications should be sent as PDFs, with your
name in the title, via email to:
Phil Spinks
email: [email protected]
