Azwad Iqbal

@azwadiqbal.bsky.social

PhD Candidate @Cornell | Population Genomics of Invasive Fish 🐟🧬 | NSF Graduate Research Fellow | Princeton '19 | 🇧🇩 ➡️ NH 🌲⛰️ | he/him https://azwadriqbal.github.io/

Officially recruiting postdocs at GW. If you are interested in genetic novelty, structural variation, or evo genetics please get in touch! We have data sets on mulitple organisms with large population sizes (Drosophila, Megalonaias nervosa) and species in decline (fireflies, mussels, elephants).

How do transposons jump when they’re released from host control? I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs. Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper: “piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts

In Metazoa, transposon expression is suppressed by the piRNA pathway, and disruption of this pathway leads to rampant transposon expression. However, it remains unclear whether increased transposon ex...

biorxiv.org

No, that assumes they are solely stupid. They are not solely stupid, they are also deeply malicious. The point is specifically to try and destroy university funding via immigration. They accurately perceive of universities being places of dissent to their overall project.

Hey team - it’s looking very likely that I’ll be hiring not one but two four year postdocs! We’re a fun lab with tons of theoretical and applied pop gen projects - broadly in polyploid, conservation, and human evo. Competitive salary, sunny San Diego! Do share with your about to defend grads!

It's as official as it can be: The Yoder Lab has been very lucky to receive NSF funding to develop our TARDIS method of modeling plants' flowering activity in varying environments. Watch for grad (MSci) opportunities in Fall 2027, and a postdoc position sooner than that 🌿 buff.ly/OHpbfB0

The Yoder Lab is building the TARDIS, with new support from NSF

Chaparral whitethorn, Ceanothus leucodermis, bearing flowers and fruits near the Red Box Picnic Area along the Angeles Crest Highway in early May, 2026. (Flickr, jby) Why do Joshua trees grow only …

lab.jbyoder.org

We're hiring a genetics lab manager position at NOAA in Juneau, Alaska! The successful candidate will oversee day-to-day laboratory operations and contribute to the development of new molecular methods. Salary is $75-145k/yr. Email wes.larson@noaa.gov with questions www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewD...

Biologist (Omics)

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Vacancies may be available in each listed location. Additional duty lo...

usajobs.gov

Looking to build your #Evol2026 schedule for Wednesday June 24th??? Well come check out my first talk as a PhD Candidate in the Hybridization II session in room 25A at 4:15 where I discuss mating behaviors and success in haploid hybrid males of Neodiprion sawflies!

Microsoft PowerPoint title slide detailing title of talk “The Mating Game: Mating Behaviors and Success in Haploid Hybrid Males (genus Neodiprion) by PhD Candidate Jakeb Watts
Screenshot detailing title of talk, name of session: “Hybridization II” as well as time and location which is Wednesday June 24th at 4:15 pm EST

I'm presenting tomorrow (6/22) at #Evol2026 in the Molecular Ecology III session (2:45 PM in Room 21)! Come by to learn about invasions, inversions, rapid evolution, selective sweeps, and fish on trains 🐟 🚂 I'm also on the market for 2027 postdocs, so happy to chat opportunities/fit!

Talk title: The population genomics of invasion: founder effects, chromosomal inversions, and selective sweeps shape the rapid evolution of invasive American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

I’m presenting a poster on two (!) chapters of my PhD at #Evol2026 Drop by C-03 tomorrow (6/21) to chat with me about eastern oyster pop gen and genetic strategies of parasite mitigation. 🦪🦠 I’m also on the lookout for a postdoc 👀 and would love to connect with anyone about a potential good fit!

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Gearing up for a full first day at #Evol2026 which includes two presentations from my lab group! I’ll be talking this morning about recent work investigating patterns of disease resilience in tropical corals. Then tonight MS student Carly Travers has a poster on her thesis studying immune memory!

Screenshot of poster info.

C-28- Investigating the presence of immune priming in the cnidarian model organism Exaiptasia diaphanoa

Sunday at 6pm in Grand Ballroom BCScreenshot of talk details:

Longitudinal, multi-species approaches reveal conserved and divergent mechanisms of disease resilience.

Sunday, 10:30-10:45 am in Room 25C

Excited to be attending #Evol2026! I'll be talking about the genetic basis of local adaptation in the face of high gene flow: it may or may not have something to do with structural variants! Come see my talk next Wednesday at 2.30 pm in the "Adaptation: Inference of Selection" session (room 24)

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Our DHS grant was terminated last week. This was awarded via the University of Alaska Anchorage's Arctic Domain Awareness Center, which was dissolved by the Trump administration last year and then brought back by Senator Dan Sullivan. We were barely allowed to spend any of the funds. The reason?

Excited to present at #PEQG (poster) and #Evol2026 (presentation) this month on invasion genomics🐟🧬! Heading into the final year of my PhD and eager to connect with people in evolutionary genomics, non-model popgen, and conservation. Happy to chat research and potential postdoc opportunities!

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