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

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!

📣🧬 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!

a painting of uncle sam pointing at the viewer with an american flag behind him

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...

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 ago

1/7 🧬 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

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while… but ADHD 😅 I finally did! It’s about creating academic spaces that actually work for people with ADHD. If it resonates, I’d love to connect or hear your thoughts. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care... #ADHD #Neurodiversity #HigherEd

How to Create an ADHD Academic Community (opinion)

Maria Akopyan writes that a grad school ADHD group became a career-spanning lifeline.

insidehighered.com

On this week’s ep, Kevin Bird (@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social) explains the events of the last 3 months, how science is funded in the United States, why it is being attacked so aggressively, and the ideologies behind these attacks. Found everywhere you get podcasts. open.spotify.com/episode/0E9l...

Is science political? - with Kevin Bird

Tiny Living Beings · Episode

open.spotify.com

@akopyan.bsky.social et al. analysed 168 genomes of Atlantic silverside, showing that high gene flow leads to clustered divergence in large inversions, while low recombination at centromeres mimics differentiation. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molb... #evobio #molbio #inversions

Genetic Differentiation is Constrained to Chromosomal Inversions and Putative Centromeres in Locally Adapted Populations With Higher Gene Flow

Abstract. The impact of genome structure on adaptation is a growing focus in evolutionary biology, revealing an important role for structural variation and

doi.org

Excited to share our new paper on genetic differentiation in Atlantic silversides! We investigated how genome structure influences adaptation under varying levels of gene flow using a species-specific reference genome and multiple recombination maps. Read on for insights! doi.org/10.1093/molb... 1/7

Genetic differentiation is constrained to chromosomal inversions and putative centromeres in locally adapted populations with higher gene flow

Abstract. The impact of genome structure on adaptation is a growing focus in evolutionary biology, revealing an important role for structural variation and

doi.org

1/7 🧬 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...

Divergent reference genomes compromise the reconstruction of demographic histories, selection scans, and population genetic summary statistics

Characterizing genetic variation in natural populations is central to evolutionary biology. However, most non-model organisms lack integral genomic resources such as reference genomes and recombinatio...

biorxiv.org