My research focuses on the application of molecular genetics and genomics to understand the genetic control of important characteristics in plants and animals. I have a strong underpinning interest in the study of DNA variations in plant and animal genomes. I have been working for Plant & Food Research in New Zealand for 17 years and I am involved in the Genomics Aotearoa project, in which I co-lead a project about developing methods for assembling high quality genomes. I have catalogued DNA variations in the apple, pear, kiwifruit, raspberry, blueberry, bilberry, petunia and pine genomes, as well as in species that are native to New Zealand such as mānuka and rewarewa for the honey industries, and hoki and trevally for the seafood industry. I led projects that have developed whole genome assemblies of the European pear, mānuka, bilberry, rewarewa, Gillenia (a species close to the ancestor of many fruit crops), hoki and raspberry genomes and participated in the international consortium that sequenced the first apple genome. Using this information, I have identified variants linked to significant traits, including adaptive traits and traits of importance to primary production. For example, my research developed knowledge about the genetic structure of mānuka and rewarewa populations, in collaboration with Māori communities and this knowledge is used for commercialising honey based on its provenance. I designed SNP arrays for apple, pear, raspberry, blueberry, mānuka, snapper/tāmure and trevally/araara, which enable the use of marker-assisted breeding, which makes the process of selecting new plant cultivars and fish stocks faster and more efficient.

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  Research history and publications