Research

Research
In my research I focus on applications of genetics for fisheries, aquaculture, and conservation biology. I mainly study salmon and shellfish, but also enjoy studying other species as well.

Salmonid genome evolution and population genomics
Pacific salmon are an invaluable and irreplaceable biological resource. The salmonid genome is an important area of study in evolutionary biology due to an ancestral whole-genome duplication event that occurred prior to the diversification of the salmonid taxa. The rivers, lakes, and population networks of the Pacific salmon species of BC are an important area of study due to their invaluable impact on the people and ecology of the province, and are fascinating due to the evolutionary forces that have and continue to shape them in a changing environment.

Selected publications:
Sutherland et al. 2016. Salmonid chromosome evolution as revealed by a novel method for comparing RADseq linkage maps. Genom. Biol. Evol. 8(12).
Sutherland et al. 2017. Sex chromosome evolution, heterochiasmy, and physiological QTL in the salmonid brook charr Salvelinus fontinalis. G3: Genes, Genom. Genet. 7(8).

Shellfish genomics and selective breeding
A broad variety of shellfish species provide a valuable and local seafood resource, and many species are the subject of breeding programs. The shellfish genome is highly polymorphic, and their population dynamics provide an interesting model for a highly fecund species with high genetic load and current-based dispersal. These features can be both a benefit and a challenge for breeding purposes, and need to be considered to produce optimal outcomes.

Selected publications:
Sutherland et al. 2020. Relative genomic impacts of translocation history, hatchery practices, and farm selection in Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Evol. Appl. 13.
Sutherland et al. 2023. Genomic diversity of wild and cultured Yesso scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis from Japan and Canada. G3: Genes Genom. Genet. 13(12).
Sutherland et al. 2024. An amplicon panel for high-throughput and low-cost genotyping of Pacific oyster. G3: Genes Genom. Genet. 14(9).

Tool development and decentralization
Genomic data is now highly abundant, and I enjoy making genetic tools and pipelines that to increase its accessibility and analytic reproducibility, and hopefully increase the insights that the data can provide.

Some projects that I am currently developing:
amplitools: analysis of amplicon panel sequence data, including de novo genotyping and parentage analyses.
simple_pop_stats: analysis of multilocus genotypes for various population genetic techniques.
wgrs_workflow: genotype SNPs from whole-genome resequencing data.
impute_workflow: pedigree-informed imputation with a low-density amplicon panel and whole genome resequencing data.

Sutherland Bioinformatics
Currently I am working alongside many different research groups as a collaborative partner through my company, Sutherland Bioinformatics. Please feel free to reach out if you would like to discuss active or future potential projects.

Collecting eDNA samples at Île d'Anticosti as part of the CanadaC3 eDNA project. Photo: aquapixels https://www.aquapixels.com

Method Development: MapComp

Click image for MapComp paper

Presentation from Coastwide Salmonid Genetics Meeting (2018)

Method Development: GO Trimming

Click image for GO Trimming paper