Surveillance of Wallaby Pest Species in New Zealand Using Environmental DNA
Gracie completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Otago in 2020 and then undertook her masters in the Department of Zoology. Her previous work assessed a range of biogeographic, behavioural, ecological, evolutionary and genomics questions using a native freshwater insect.
Gracie’s PhD in the Gemmell lab will provide a much-needed lens on invasive wallaby species in New Zealand. The prolific spread of wallabies is difficult to track, so she aims to use water and airborne environmental DNA samples to detect emerging populations and predict their distribution movements.
Her supervisors are Prof. Neil Gemmell, Dr. Kristen Fernandes (Western Australia Department of Conservation) and Prof. Phillip Seddon (Dep. Zoology, University of Otago).
Contact:
Krogr057@student.otago.ac.nz
@GracieKroos
Publications:
Foster, B. J., McCulloch, G. A., Foster, Y., Kroos, G. C., & Waters, J. M. (2022). Ebony underpins Batesian mimicry in an insect melanic polymorphism. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.13.495778
McCulloch, G. A., Dutoit, L., Craw, D., Kroos, G. C., & Waters, J. M. (2022). Genomics reveals exceptional phylogenetic diversity within a narrow-range flightless insect. Insect Systematics and Diversity, 6(2), 5. https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixac009
Kroos, G. C., Waters, J. M., & McCulloch, G. A. (2021). Does assortative mating contribute to reproductive isolation among sympatric ecotypes of the wing‐dimorphic stonefly Zelandoperla fenestrata (Plecoptera: Gripopterygidae)? Austral Entomology, 60(3), 571-577. https://doi.org/10.1111/aen.12553