Dr. Megan Osborne
Rio Grande silvery minnow
Diprotodontid Systematics
Pecos River Fishes
I am a broadly trained evolutionary biologist with skills in systematics, phylogeography and population genetics. I am fascinated by how geological and contemporary processes act to shape how taxa (and their genetic legacy) are distributed in space and time. I use empirical data to disentangle the roles of historical and contemporary processes (such as gene flow and species life-history) in distributing genetic diversity within populations and across landscapes. For the past 10 years I have worked in the arid and semi-arid regions of the American southwest on phylogeography and population genetics of fishes providing me with considerable insight into the importance of historical processes, and the value of contemporary refuges in preserving both biodiversity and genetic integrity of species.I have been intimately involved with natural history museums for my entire career and thus have a deep appreciation for the role of these collections for conducting research that seeks to increase our understanding of our natural world.
I conducted my undergraduate studies at La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) graduating with a first class honors Science degree majoring in genetics and zoology. My honours research entailed using mitochondrial DNA data to study the population genetics of the endangered mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus). Subsequently, I went on to complete my PhD research (in 2002) at the Museum of Victoria/La Trobe University with advisors Dr. Leslie Christidis and Dr Neil Murray. This research involved the use of molecular data to reconstruct the phylogenetic history and biogeography of the diprotodontid marsupials specifically possums and gliders.
In 2002, I commenced my post-doctoral research at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Turner. This research involved investigating how early life-history and river fragmentation interact to drive levels of genetic diversity (at microsatellites and mtDNA loci) including contemporary genetic effective size in the endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow. By pairing temporal (12 consecutive years) genetic and demographic data we were able to demonstrate that genetic effective size and population census size were decoupled, which has important implications for management of the species (Osborne et al. 2012b).
I am currently a Research Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico where I am continuing my research on arid-land fishes at the species-population interface. The research that I conduct employs a comparative approach to evaluate intrinsic (e.g., species traits, life histories) and extrinsic (abiotic landscape features) to understand the causes and consequences of metapopulation connectivity for maintenance of biodiversity and genetic integrity of species. With more than a decade of experience as a research scientist I have developed and applied innovative techniques (including transcriptomics) in my research on birds, marsupials and most recently fishes and frogs. I have also conducted many projects that specifically address conservation questions with results contributing to the management of species.