Lab PI
Christy Hipsley, Assistant Professor
I did my PhD at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany, in the Vertebrate Paleontology lab of Professor Johannes Müller. My degree was conferred in 2012 from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where I first started with Barry Sinervo working on side-blotched lizards. From 2012-2014, I was a DFG-funded Postdoctoral Fellow at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and from 2015-2020, I was an Australian Research Council Fellow at the School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne. During that time I was a Research Associate at the Melbourne Museum, where I used their vast collections to reconstruct Australia’s evolutionary past. In January 2021, I was made an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. My current research focuses on the long-term impacts of human disturbance, climate change and domestication on phenotypic evolution, by measuring variation in vertebrate morphology over geological time.
In addition to research, I am also active in museum exhibitions, science outreach, and education.
Email: christy.hipsley@bio.ku.dk
Current students
Merin Joji (Integrated PhD)
I am an Integrated PhD student at the University of Copenhagen, Section of Ecology and Evolution (2022-2025). My research aims to study the asymmetry of Indian freshwater turtles which can be caused by pollution, habitat loss, change of river streams and the presence of invasive turtle Red-eared slider. India is having 29 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises most of which are under the threat of extinction. I will be studying the shape of turtle shell using Geometric Morphometrics and will be looking at the level of fluctuating asymmetry. This study will be done with both specimens from various museums and live turtles.
Email: merin.joji@bio.ku.dk,
Other: LinkedIn
Stine Keibel Blom (PhD)
I started my PhD on August 1st 2022 in human and primate evolution after I completed my MSc in the same subject, both at the University of Copenhagen, section for Ecology and Evolution. By combining genetics and morphology, I study the genes that modern Homo and Gorilla share, but are different from Pan, that have been suggested to be affected by incomplete lineage sorting (ILS). I hypothesize that these genes are leading to closer phenotypic characters between humans and gorillas that are distinct from chimpanzees, although having chimpanzees as the closest living relative of humans. Despite having evolved great knowledge, tools, and methods in both fields over the last decades, even century, no one has yet combined genetics and morphology in a comparative study to get a broader understanding of human and primate evolution. This is what I aim to do during my 3 year PhD.
Email: stine.blom@bio.ku.dk,
Till Ramm (PhD)
I completed my MSc at Humboldt University Berlin in the lab of Johannes Müller in 2017. Currently I´m a joint-PhD student between the Humboldt University Berlin and University of Melbourne. My research aims to examine influences of Pleistocene climatic changes on Australian agamid and varanid lizards using direct fossil evidence from different cave sites in eastern Australia. I´m also interested in macroecological research on reptiles in general and I love catching lizards in the field.
Marco Camaiti (PhD)
Dominika Bujnakova (PhD)
I did my bachelor’s degree in Ecology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and continued with master’s degree at the University of Oulu – Ecology and Population Genetics (ECOGEN). My master thesis was about wolverine (Gulo gulo) historical demography and phylogeography across Eurasia. This is the project I continue working on during my PhD with my colleague Gerhardus Lansink at the University of Oulu.
During my PhD I also explore wolf morphology using 3D scans and computer tomography images at the University of Copenhagen and Technical University of Denmark.
The main aim of my PhD studies is to understand how wolverine genetics varies across its global Holarctic distribution and how is wolf cranial morphology affected by the environments. Finally, I want to bring the acquired knowledge on both wolves and wolverines to the wider public in order to raise the awareness of the importance of these controversial, yet majestic large carnivores via science communication and public engagement.
Email: Dominika.Bujnakova@oulu.fi
Other: LinkedIn, Wildlife Genomics Oulu, Twitter, ORCID, Research Gate, Researcher’s Profile
Lab alumni (University of Melbourne)
Rocío Aguilar, Research Assistant
Students
Jung Ki Son (MSc) – now PhD student at University of Melbourne
Axel Newton (PhD) – now Postdoc at University of Melbourne
Sakib Kazi (MSc)