• Bioinformatics
• Evolutionary biology
• Genomics

Publications:

Copeland M, Landa S, Owoyemi A, Jonika MM, Alfieri J, Sylvester T, Hoover Z, Hjelmen CE, Spencer Johnston J, Kyre BR, Rieske LK, Blackmon H, Casola C. Genome assembly of the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman) reveals the origins of gene content reduction in Dendroctonus. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 May 10:2024.05.08.592785. doi: 10.1101/2024.05.08.592785. Update in: R Soc Open Sci. 2024 Dec 11;11(12):240755. doi: 10.1098/rsos.240755. PMID: 38766115; PMCID: PMC11100688.

Burch J, Nava C, Copeland M, Blackmon H. Failures to atomize traits leads to systemic failure in line cross analyses. – Under review at Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (Submission date: October 2024)

Presentations:

(T: talk, P: poster, †: co-author)
2024
– Retrogene discovery. Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists, Pittsburgh, PA – P†
– Retrogene discovery. Texas A&M University, Mathematical Modeling in Sciences, College Station, TX – P†
– Genome assembly of the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman) reveal the origins of gene content reduction in Dendroctonus. Southeast Texas Evolutionary Genetics & Genomics Symposium, Houston, TX – P
– DirectRepeatR: Direct repeat characterization across genome assemblies. Texas Genetics Society Conference, College Station, TX – P
– DirectRepeatR: Direct repeat characterization across genome assemblies. Texas A&M University, Student Research Week, College Station, TX – T
– Genome assembly of an expanding forest pest: Dendroctonus frontalis (southern pine beetle). Texas A&M University Biology Student/Postdoc Research Conference, College Station, TX – T

2023
– Genome assembly of an expanding forest pest: Dendroctonus frontalis (southern pine beetle). Genome Editing Symposium, College Station, TX – P
– Genome Assembly of the North American Giant Stag Beetle (Lucanus elaphus). Texas A&M University, SURGe Program, College Station, TX – P†
– Genome Assembly of the North American Giant Stag Beetle (Lucanus elaphus). Texas A&M University, SURGe Program, College Station, TX – T†
– Genome assembly of an expanding forest pest: Dendroctonus frontalis (southern pine beetle). Evolution Conference, Albuquerque, NM – P
– Genome assembly of an expanding forest pest: Dendroctonus frontalis (southern pine beetle). Texas A&M University, Ecological Integration Symposium, College Station, TX – P