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  • Dr David Field

    Dr David Field

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Dr David Luke Field

Overview of role

David is a Senior Lecturer in molecular ecology and evolutionary genetics in the School of Science.

Current Teaching

  • SCI1183 Origins and Evolution of Life
  • SCI2112 Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

Background

David Field’s background has focused on the ecological and evolutionary genetics of natural plant populations. His research has covered a range of model and non-model plant systems (e.g. Eucalypts, Snapdragons) spanning several continents including Australia, North America and Europe. David holds a first-class honours degree (Bachelor of Science, Biology) and a PhD in Biology on the ecological genetics of hybrid zones in Eucalyptus. After completing his PhD in 2008 he moved to the University of Toronto, Canada to work on plant mating system evolution (with Prof Spencer Barrett). In 2011 he then moved to the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Austria, focusing on speciation genetics in snapdragons (with Prof. Nick Barton). In 2016, he began an Assistant Professorship (group leader) position at the University of Vienna, further developing the snapdragon hybrid zone system as a model in speciation genomics. In 2019 he moved to Edith Cowan University as a Lecturer in Molecular Ecology (for current research projects see below). His research background is highly interdisciplinary combining bioinformatics and population genomics, theoretical modelling, method and program development, ecological field work and manipulative experiments.

  • June 2019 - present: Lecturer, School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia.
  • 2016 – 2019: Assistant Professor, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Austria.
  • 2011 – 2016: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Science and Technology, Austria.
  • 2008 – 2011: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Canada.
  • 2008: Postdoctoral Fellow, CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra, Australia.

Professional Memberships

  • 2014-2019: European Society for Evolutionary Biology, ESEB (Member)
  • 2019: Genetics Society of Australasia, GSA (Member)

Awards and Recognition

National and International Awards

  • 2004: Mayo Prize. Best talk by a PhD student, Annual Meeting of Genetics Society of Australasia.
  • 2003-2006: CSIRO Scholarship Top-up Award
  • 2002-2006: University Postgraduate Research Award
  • 2001: Dean’s Merit List for academic performance, University of Wollongong.

Other

Research highlighted in the media

Conference Speaker Invitations

  • Evolution of Plant Reproductive Systems, Barrett-Fest Symposium, University of Toronto, Canada, 2018.
  • Gordon Research Conference: Ecological and evolutionary genomics. University of New England, U.S.A, 2017.
  • American Genetic Association (AGA) meeting: Local adaptation. Asilomar, U.S.A, 2016.
  • Wild Genomics workshop, Edinburgh University, 2012.
  • International Conference on Polyploidy, Hybridization, and Biodiversity, Průhonice, Czech Republic, 2012.

Research Areas and Interests

  • Speciation and hybrid zones
  • Local adaptation
  • Population genetics and genomics
  • Plant mating systems and plant-pollinator interactions
  • Theoretical modelling and method development

David’s research focuses on the evolution and ecology of natural plant populations. His work examines the ecological and evolutionary processes that generate spatial patterns of phenotypic and genetic variation across landscapes and how this links with local adaptation. A current major focus is on hybrid zones – with the goal of dissecting the genetic basis of divergent traits and identifying the genomic location of barriers to gene flow. Other research topics include mating system evolution, polyploidy, genetic rescue and the development of methods and programs for population genetic and genomic analyses. The ultimate goal is to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms underlying speciation, local adaptation and the adaptive capacity of plant populations – issues of immense importance for evolutionary and conservation biology, and to plant breeding and global food security.

Current research projects include:

  1. Speciation Genetics in Snapdragons. Using natural hybrid zones, GWAS and spatial genetic data to quantify fitness landscapes and how barriers interact along the genome (Austrian Research Fund (FWF): 2019-2022). Collaboration with Nick Barton (IST Austria) and Enrico Coen (John Innes Centre UK).
  2. Genetic rescue of threatened species. Theoretical models to understand how genetic architecture impacts restoration and assisted migration strategies. With Melinda Pickup, Himani Sachdeva, Srdjan Sarikas.
  3. Hybridisation and the evolution of plant mating systems. A range of topics; (i) models of the diversification of self-incompatibility, (ii) sexual dimorphism, (iii) barriers to gene flow and mating systems, (iv) hybridisation and invasions. With Katka Bodova, Nick Barton, Melinda Pickup, Christelle Fraisse, Yaniv Brandvain and others.
  4. Method development in population genetics and genomics. I have a fondness for coding and developing new programs for population genomic analyses including (i) genomic scans of geographic clines, (ii) dispersal in polyploids and (iii) pedigree/sibship inference.

For more details see https://sites.google.com/view/davidfieldresearch/about

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