Maria Akopyan, PhD
@akopyan.bsky.social
assistant professor @Rice | evolutionary genomics | she/her
🏝️ How do island species persist despite small populations? A recent synthesis shows that purging, genetic drift and ecological buffering can act together, yet genomic erosion may still leave populations vulnerable to environmental change. 👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.tr... @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social
Rice University invites applications for multiple tenured and tenure-track positions at the senior and junior levels in #EnvironmentalHealth. Join our team! apply.interfolio.com/193813
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If you saw me talk at PEQG or PAG and want to try out a new method for assembling sex chromosomes, our paper and pipeline are live! Biggest shoutout to @scarey.bsky.social for pioneering this method and happy to have played a part in its application and deployment!
bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 2w agoIdentifying, phasing, and structurally annotating sex chromosomes for genome assemblies using CBS-tools https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753885v1
New preprint out today! [1/5] Can higher recombination rates help populations adapt more quickly to environmental change? We used forward-time simulations to find out. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Recombination accelerates adaptation across genetic architectures and demographic histories
According to classic population genetics theory, recombination shapes the efficacy of natural selection. However, whether variation in recombination rate itself translates into meaningful differences ...
biorxiv.org
We are often asked whether pangenomes are worth the hassle. The files can be large and methods to explore them are much more challenging than linear references. Earlier this week, we preprinted a clear example of how and why pan-genome graphs are so important for trait discovery.
bioRxiv Genomics@biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · 5mo agoDissecting the regulatory and genomic drivers of the dichogamy determining G-locus in pecan https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.14.725045v1
📣 I'm recruiting PhD students to join the Akopyan Lab at Rice University! If you're passionate about evolutionary genomics, I'd love to hear from you. Details: akopyanlab.org/opportunities Please share widely! 🙏
Opportunities
We are recruiting PhD students in Evolutionary Genomics for Fall 2027 at Rice University! Projects in the lab include investigating the causes and consequences of recombination rate variation, the...
akopyanlab.org
I'm looking to hire a postdoc to work on the RepAdapt + MacroMar projects, analysing genomic data from >130 species of plants, animals, and fungi (VCFs are processed, ready to go). Lots of potential for creativity and collaboration! yeamanlab.weebly.com/uploads/5/7/...
fellowships.si.edu/opportunity/... Please reach out if you are interested in developing an independent application for this postdoc opportunity with myself and Michael Campana. We have a lot of great bear genomics data that could be leveraged!
Smithsonian Biodiversity Genomics Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (BioG)
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fellowships.si.edu
I am currently searching for a postdoc to work on the evolution of adaptations, cold acclimation, and freezing tolerance in switchgrass. The position entails lab, growth facility, bioinformatics, and fieldwork. careers.msu.edu/jobs/postdoc...
Postdoctoral Scholar-Fixed Term - East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Position Summary The Lowry Lab at Michigan State University is searching for a postdoctoral research associate to conduct field and laboratory experiments to understand the causes of genetic variation...
careers.msu.edu
BLink-seq is out! Linked-read sequencing that brings phased whole-genome data to non-model species at population scale. We show it phases haplotypes and detects SVs, revealing previously undocumented structural complexity in an adaptive Atlantic silverside inversion. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
BLink-seq delivers population-scale haplotypes without long reads: a scalable framework for non-model genomics
Information about segregating haplotypes and structural variation (SV) can be extremely rich for a variety of applications in population genomics but remains largely inaccessible for many non-model sp...
biorxiv.org
Just posted: a group paper describing major updates to my software pixy, for population genetic summary statistics. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... New since 2021: arbitrary ploidy, multiallelic sites, missingness-aware Watterson's θ and Tajima's D, Hudson's FST, multicore execution!
Finally posted an ad for the postdoc position on my new NSF-funded project—come help build a new method to study plants' responses to environmental variation in space and over time, and figure out interesting ways to use it! Apply by 23 August to ensure consideration. Details: buff.ly/qTvaqvD
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!
Interested in joining a growing lab in LA? We’re hiring a postdoc!! Please spread the word to folks in your network and feel free to get in touch with any questions recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF11142
📣🧬 Postdoc Alert🧬📣 We are hiring a 2+ year NERC-funded postdoc at Edinburgh Uni investigating causes and consequences of sex differences in recombination in house sparrows in Norway. Informal enquiries welcome at Susan.Johnston@ed.ac.uk 🙂 Details here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
I am beyond excited to announce that I will be joining the Dept. of Biosciences at Rice as an Assistant Professor this summer! I’m incredibly grateful to my mentors and colleagues for their guidance and encouragement throughout this journey. More soon—I’ll be recruiting students and postdocs!
I am not usually regarded as an optimistic person (lol) or particularly mushy, but I do have an encouraging story I want to share today while basic research is being terminated and the NSF is being reshaped in unrecognizable ways. 🧵
I am hiring a popgen postdoc! Looking for a creative scientist to join us at USC to investigate recessive variation and complex traits in model or non-model species. The project is funded by a multi-year NIH grant, contract can be renewed. Job add & details 👇🏽 usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
It's looking increasingly likely that I'll be hiring a 3-year computational pop-gen postdoc/PhD-level scientific programmer to start this Fall (2026). If you or someone you know is defending soon, and looking for a position, please DM/write to me! Thanks!
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ALT: a painting of uncle sam pointing at the viewer with an american flag behind him
media.tenor.com
Our paper is out in @Science! The Atlantic silverside spans Earth's steepest latitudinal gradient in coastal sea-surface temperature. Despite high gene flow, populations show clinal genetic variation in multiple locally adapted traits. doi.org/10.1126/scie...
New review! Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬 Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social @annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A Beginner's Guide to Structural Variants in Eco‐Evolutionary Population Genomics
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has greatly expanded researchers' ability to study structural variants (SVs), that is, the variation in the presence, number, orientation or position of a DNA sequence. ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Cal State University’s deal with OpenAI — providing ChatGPT to all faculty, students, and staff — will expire in June 2026. Amid the prospect of layoffs in the CSU, we’re asking the chancellor not to renew this costly and demoralizing contract. Link below and anyone can sign:
Last year observed the 3rd warmest global average sea surface temperature on record. 🌊 Data from psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded...
Team fish - we need your help! We are trying to build a database of all the fish chromosome-scale genomes where sex chromosomes have been identified. Have you build one or some? Do you know someone who has? Can you post the link in the comments? Please spread the word and repost! Thank you!
Integrative PhD position available in my lab on the mechanisms (gene expression, metabolism, microbiome and hormones) of intestinal remodelling in lampreys. Come work in a great and fun research environment with @nealdawson.bsky.social & Adam Dobson (not here). Apply: www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/mvl...
University of Glasgow - Colleges - College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences - MVLS Graduate School - PhD Research Opportunities - College Futures Themes PhD Programme
gla.ac.uk
Wisconsin Evolution is accepting applications for our Seminar Series' Early Career Scientist Award. Come share your evolution research and visit UW-Madison's evolution community. Open to grad students and postdocs (<5 yrs post PhD) from outside UW-Madison. Apply by Dec 15th here: shorturl.at/4a4O6
Early Career Scientist Awards 2026
Application to the UW-Madison Evolution Seminar Series - Early Career Scientist Awards.
urldefense.com
Excited to recruit a new PhD student for Fall 2026 in my lab at Cornell! Looking for someone interested in evolutionary genomics + fisheries/conservation applications. Quick timeline this year—reach out soon. More details: www.therkildsenlab.org/join-us.html
Join Us
The lab of Nina Overgaard Therkildsen in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University invites applications for a PhD position starting in Fall 2026. Our group works...
therkildsenlab.org
Now published in Cell! We found that ~15% of SNPs from divergent refs did not liftover as SNPs in the gray fox ref—half mapped to monomorphic sites, half failed to map. Co-authored with Matthew Genchev, @elliecat.bsky.social, and @jazlynmooney.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reference genome choice compromises population genetic analyses
Characterizing genetic variation in natural populations is vital to evolutionary biology; however, many non-model species lack genomic resources. Here…
sciencedirect.com
Maria Akopyan, PhD@akopyan.bsky.social · 2y ago1/7 🧬 New Preprint Alert: Our study highlights the risks of using divergent reference genomes in population genomics. The choice of reference genome can skew key inferences about demography, diversity, and selection. Read on for insights! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thrilled to have a new paper out where we use 12+ years of monitoring data to document the impacts of inbreeding on fitness in eastern massasauga rattlesnakes! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Inbreeding reduces fitness in spatially structured populations of a threatened rattlesnake | PNAS
Small and fragmented populations are at high risk of local extinction, in part because of elevated inbreeding and subsequent inbreeding depression....
pnas.org
