Halmos College Hosts Tiger Talk

On Friday, November 22, 2019, Halmos College hosted the talk, “Tigers of the World: Genomics and Conservation” by visiting scholar Shu Jin Luo, Ph.D. from Peking University, China. Of all the big cats, or perhaps of all the endangered wildlife, the tiger may be both the most charismatic and most well-recognized flagship species in the world. Using first-handed data from the speaker’s own research over the past 20 years, an overview will be given on how applications of molecular genomic tools have advanced our understanding of the tiger’s ancestral roots, natural history, morphological diversity, and provides a scientific foundation for conservation strategic planning and management actions for this charismatic megafauna both in situ and ex situ.

Dr. Luo’s research field is in genomic diversity and evolution. She has been based at Peking University since 2009, after receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and completing a postdoc fellowship at the NIH-National Cancer Institute in Maryland. Dr. Luo is broadly interested in applying molecular genomics methods to problems about mammalian evolution, adaptation and systematic relationship, with a particular focus in the family Felidae. Her genomic study in the tiger offered the strongest-ever evidence for subspecies differentiation and local adaptation. Applying whole genome sequencing and computational tools, we illuminated the genetic causes of the white tiger, and elucidated the demographic and evolutionary histories of multiple Asian felids such as the leopard cat and the Chinese mountain cat.  She is a member of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group since 2005 and an expert member of the IUCN Cat Classification Task Force (CCTF). She is also an associate editor for the Journal of Heredity since 2016 and an editorial board member for Integrative Zoology since 2015.