Workshop in Conservation and Gene Expression (Asilomar, CA)

Workshop in Conservation and Gene Expression.  
September 19-23, 2016, Asilomar, CA

Genomic variation has been a recent focus in conservation of rare and endangered species. However, the immediate response to environmental challenges will likely be determined by gene expression, which will constrain the efficacy of response and the likelihood of population persistence. Nonetheless, gene expression has been poorly studied in natural populations facing environmental and anthropogenic threats. This 5-day workshop at Asilomar, a resort on the central California coast, will focus on providing an overview of the general approaches to studying gene expression as well as the molecular and analytical tools needed to initiate and complete a field study. We will be oriented toward questions regarding the conservation of biodiversity, but the tools and approaches can be applied to a wide variety of questions. The topics covered will include: 1) RNA sampling, preservation, extraction and quantification; 2) library construction and sequencing (RNA-Seq and reduced representation bisulphite sequencing (RRBS)); 3) filtering, quality control, mapping of reads to transcriptomes and genomes; and 4) statistical analysis, mixed linear model, WGCNA, GO analysis, TOA and TCA (for whole blood samples) and other inference techniques; and 5) interpretation of results and functional analysis.
See examples:
Charruau et al. (2016) Pervasive effects of aging on gene expression in wild wolves. Mol Biol Evol.
Koch et al. (2016) The concerted impact of domestication and transposon insertions on methylation patterns between dogs and gray wolves. Mol Ecol.

The workshop will not be restricted to taxonomic groups; it will include examples from plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. Applications from University of California graduate and post-graduate community will receive higher priority as funding is partly due to a UC president’s office catalyst award. However, all applications will be considered. There will be some special fellowship support for UC students. The $600 registration includes housing and all meals. Please apply online below. Space will be limited to 25 students.

Lecturers (two talks from each on a research topic)
Robert Wayne, Matteo Pellegrini, Steve Cole (UCLA), Beth Shapiro (UCSC), Jenny Tung (Duke U), Steve Palumbi (Stanford U), Bridgett vonHoldt (Princeton U), Zac Cheveron (U Montana) and Christina Richards (U South Florida).

Workshop Instructors
Rachel Johnson, Tiffany Armenta, Alice Mouton, Devaughn Fraser, Gabriela Pinto, Annabel Beichman, Adam Freedman, and Amanda Lee.

Apply to the Workshop in Conservation and Gene Expression here:

https://ucconservationgenomics.eeb.ucla.edu/workshops/