Netherlands PhD student visits lab

Isolde van Riemsdijk is a visiting PhD student at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands working with Dr. J.W. Arntzen and Dr. B. Wielstra. Her interests lie in the processes of evolution and speciation. Her graduate research focuses on hybridization on a genomic level in amphibian species, with a main focus on moving hybrid zones. She currently studies hybridization between two species of toads, the common toad, Bufo bufo and the spined toad, Bufo spinosus in France. During her visit at the Shaffer lab, she is conducting a ddRAD (double-digest restriction associated DNA) and associated bioinformatics project to characterize this potential example of a moving hybrid zone. Previously she has worked on the genetics of the salamandrid genus Ommatotriton (banded newts). For more information, contact Isolde at isolde.vanriemsdijk@naturalis.nl.