Mel Norgate

PhD in Genetics, University of Melbourne, Copper Homeostasis in Drosophila melanogaster.
The aim of this project has been to establish Drosophila melanogaster as a suitable multicellular model for the study of copper homeostasis.  The work involved bioinformatics, molecular biology manipulations, development of assays for copper sensitivity and resistance, screening populations and microarray analysis.  The research identified a variety of candidate novel copper homeostasis genes that are currently being further investigated.

Current research (proposal with P Sunnucks and M Kearney) is to bring functional molecular genetic skills directly to bear on important questions in population and conservation biology.

The main project under development is:

Understanding responses to climate change: a mechanistic approach integrating functional genetics, physiology and biophysical models for the Common brown butterfly

Project outline:

  Climate change and habitat fragmentation are together a major threat to the continued survival of a vast number of species. Correlative bioclimatic models are often used for predicting future suitable habitats, but currently do not take into account whether species are able to colonise new regions, nor the mechanisms by which they interact with and adapt to their environment. We will use a butterfly model species to investigate the relationship between genetic polymorphisms, physiological capacity for dispersal, and environmental constraints at the landscape scale. This will allow truly mechanistic and more accurate predictions of how novel climatic environments will affect species distributions.