Dr. Ilaria Coscia
School of Science, Engineering and Environment
Current positions
Research and Teaching Fellow
Biography
I studied at the University of Genoa (Italy), where I obtained my MSc in 2004 in Biology, with a thesis on the population genetics of the barnacle Balanus amphitrite. I then moved to University College Dublin, to do my PhD. The research focused on the use of genetics tools to study the evolutionary dynamics of sea bass, gilthead seabream, and shad. After completing my PhD in 2009, I remained at UCD for a year to work on deep sea fish species. In 2010 I moved to Wales, where I studied the population connectivity of cockles within the Irish Sea.
In 2013, I accepted a position at the University of Leuven, to join the European project AquaTrace. There, I was awarded a prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship to work on deep sea fish species of the genus Molva. I have been back in the UK since 2016, when I joined the University of Salford.
Areas of research
Population Genomics, Fisheries Genomics, Molecular Ecology, eDNA, Marine
I contribute teaching to: Professional Communication, Marine Biology, Biological Principles, Strategies Mitigating Global Threats, Invasions and Infections, Global Distribution of Wildlife, Frontiers in Wildlife Biology, Zoological Research Skills, Research and Professional Practice and Earth Surface Processes.
My main field of research is population genetics/genomics of marine fishes.
I am interested in using population genomics to answer ecological questions. The field of population genetics has been transforming over the last few years, and is now able to use the genome as a whole instead of the few tens of markers that were routinely employed before.
The amount of data produced is astounding, and can be used to investigate several questions, from speciation, adaptation, hybridisation and seascape genetics to stock identification and management. Importantly, these new techniques involve the use of new bioinformatics analysis techniques.
Memberships
- ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Working Group on the Application of Genetics on Fisheries and Mariculture
- Scientific Committee of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ).