Katarina Stuart completed her undergrad at the University of Sydney, completing an honours thesis on the evolution and trait plasticity of the invasive cane toad.
She commenced her PhD at UNSW in February 2018 under the primary supervision of Lee Ann Rollins. Her thesis project aims to use genomics to investigate evolution in the European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). The global nature of starling invasions provides an important opportunity to examine evolutionary questions about invasion success, and how this is linked to similarities or emerging differences in their genome post colonisation and during range expansion. Major components of her thesis involve updating the starling genome, and exploring the population genetics of Australia’s starling invasion in relation to their native range counterparts, both modern and historic.
Katarina’s general interest are in invasive species, and their dynamic evolutionary change over geographical and temporal ranges.
