Projects per year
Personal profile
Academic Background
- 2015-present: Professor of Evolutionary Genetics, UEA, UK
- 2011-2015: Reader of Evolutionary Genetics, University of East Anglia (UEA), UK
- 2007-2011: Lecturer, University of Hull, UK
- 2003-2007: Senior Fellow, University of Hull, UK
- 2001-2003: NERC Fellow, University of Hull, UK
- 1998-2001: Post-doc, University of Hull, UK
- 1992-2000: PhD Leiden University, the Netherlands
- 1986-1991: BSc and MSc (Hons) Leiden University, the Netherlands
PhD Positions
Click here for current PhD opportunities in the School of Environmental Sciences. But feel free to email me to discuss projects outside these areas and alternative sources of funding.
Biography
Cock van Oosterhout did his PhD on captive metapopulations of the butterfly Bicyclus anynana at Leiden University in the Netherlands under the supervision of Paul Brakefield. He moved to the UK in 1998 where he worked on guppies (Poecilia reticulata) at the University of Hull. He received an NERC Fellowship testing conservation genetic breeding protocols, reintroduction and genetic supplementation programs using guppies as an empirical model and did this research in Hull and Trinidad. He developed software applications, including Micro-Checker for population genetic analysis of microsatellites, as well as models of host-parasite coevolution and population genetic simulations, and more recently, he designed software for whole genome analysis of recombination (Hybrid-Check). He works on a wide range of species, including guppies, cichlids, plant parasites (aphids and oomycetes), diatoms and the pink pigeon, and he is particularly interested in the evolution of immune and resistance genes, and effector genes. He is currently a Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at the University of East Anglia and acts as Deputy Director of the Earth and Life Systems Alliance (ELSA), collaborating with researchers across Norwich Research Park (NRP).
Key Research Interests
- Evolution and population genetics of birds, fish, insects, plants, fungi and oomycetes.
- The effects of recombination, hybridisation and introgression in evolutionary genetics and genomics.
- Population genetics and evolution of the vertebrate immune genes, the MHC
- Design of population genetic software for the analysis of microsatellite loci: Micro-Checker (www.microchecker.hull.ac.uk/)
- Design of genome analysis software for the detection of recombination: Hybrid-Check (www.norwichresearchpark.com/HybRIDS)
- Host-parasite coevolution and the design of individual based models to investigate parasite transmission biology: Gyro-Scope (www.hull.ac.uk/gyro-scope/)
Publications: EPrints Digital Repository
Key Responsibilities
- Deputy Director of the Earth and Life Systems Alliance (ELSA)
- Co-Director of the International Masters in Applied Ecology (IMAE)
Teaching Interests
I am particularlly interested in supervising UG, MSc and PhD students who have an affinity for computational modelling, scripting and/or bioinformatics, and who would like to use and improve their skills to address questions in evolutionary genetic and population genetic research.
I am the module organiser or the MSc module "ENV-MA72: Ecological Modelling and Statistics" in which students acquire basic programming skills (in R) and get training in general and generalised linear statistical modelling and community analysis.
I teach in the 3rd year / MSc module "BIO-6008B: Evolutionary Biology and Conservation Genetics" in which we address the biological applications of molecular genetic markers from the perspective of conservation biology, population biology, organismal phylogeny, molecular ecology and genomics.
In collaboration with Joanne Cable of Cardiff University I also supervise every year a small number of undergraduate and postgraduate research projects in Marine Biology in Tobago.
Keywords
- Zoology
- guppy
- Poecilia reticulata
- MHC
- population genetics
- Evolution & Adaptation
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Donation for research for the conservation and restoration of the pink pigeon
16/02/25 → 15/02/26
Project: Research
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Next generation genomics for the conservation of three iconic bird species of Mauritius
1/12/20 → 31/12/24
Project: Research
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Molecular underpinnings of adaptive evolution in diatoms of polar oceans
Mock, T., van Oosterhout, C. & Hopes, A.
22/01/18 → 30/06/22
Project: Research
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Ancient dog introgression into the Iberian wolf genome may have facilitated adaptation to human-dominated landscapes
Lobo, D., Morales, H. E., Van Oosterhout, C., López-Bao, J. V., Silva, P., Llaneza, L., Pacheco, C., Castro, D., Hernández-Alonso, G., Pacheco, G., Archer, J., Gilbert, M. T. P., Ferrand, N. & Godinho, R., Mar 2025, In: Genome Research. 35, 3, p. 432-445 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure) -
Exploring genetic admixture in putative hybrid zones of Pinus mugo Turra and P. sylvestris L. in Slovakia
Klobučník, M., van Oosterhout, C., Galgóci, M. & Kormuťák, A., 17 Apr 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Conservation Genetics.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Long-distance gene flow and recombination shape the evolutionary history of a maize pathogen
Rogério, F., Van Oosterhout, C., De Mita, S., Cuevas-Fernández, F. B., García-Rodríguez, P., Becerra, S., Gutiérrez-Sánchez, S., Jacquat, A. G., Bettiol, W., Hosaka, G. K., Ulla, S. B., Hiltbrunner, J., Santiago, R., Revilla, P., Dambolena, J. S., Vicente-Villardón, J. L., Buhiniček, I., Sukno, S. A. & Thon, M. R., 21 Feb 2025, In: IMA Fungus. 16, e138888.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
AI-informed conservation genomics
van Oosterhout, C., Jan 2024, In: Heredity. 132, p. 1-4 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus)11 Downloads (Pure) -
Can genetic rescue help save Arabia's last big cat?
Al Hikmani, H., van Oosterhout, C., Birley, T., Labisko, J., Jackson, H. A., Spalton, A., Tollington, S. & Groombridge, J. J., May 2024, In: Evolutionary Applications. 17, 5, e13701.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)7 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Data from: A further cost for the sicker sex? Evidence for male-biased parasite-induced vulnerability to predation
Stephenson, J. F. (Creator), Kinsella, C. (Creator), Cable, J. (Creator) & van Oosterhout, C. (Creator), Dryad data repository, 24 Feb 2017
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3n6s7
Dataset
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Data from: Immunogenetic novelty confers a selective advantage in host-pathogen coevolution
Phillips, K. (Creator), Cable, J. (Creator), Mohammed, R. S. (Creator), Herdegen-Radwan, M. (Creator), Raubic, J. (Creator), Przesmycka, K. J. (Creator), van Oosterhout, C. (Creator) & Radwan, J. (Creator), Dryad data repository, 18 Jan 2018
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.72262
Dataset
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Data from: The genetics of mate preferences in hybrids between two young and sympatric Lake Victoria cichlid species
Svensson, O. (Creator), Woodhouse, K. (Creator), van Oosterhout, C. (Creator), Smith, A. (Creator), Turner, G. F. (Creator) & Seehausen, O. (Creator), Dryad data repository, 25 Jan 2017
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.q58hr
Dataset
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Data from: The effects of recombination, mutation and selection on the evolution of the Rp1 resistance genes in grasses
Jouet, A. (Creator), Mcmullan, M. (Creator) & van Oosterhout, C. (Creator), Dryad data repository, 22 Apr 2015
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.717vp
Dataset
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Data from: Adaptive phenotypic response to climate enabled by epigenetics in a K-strategy species, the fish Leucoraja ocellata (Rajidae)
Lighten, J. (Creator), Incarnato, D. (Creator), Ward, B. J. (Creator), van Oosterhout, C. (Creator), Bradbury, I. (Creator), Hanson, M. (Creator) & Bentzen, P. (Creator), Dryad data repository, 27 Sept 2016
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6mr8n
Dataset