Hi, I'm

Pavel

I study population ecology in marine systems using genomics

My focus has typically been highly migratory marine fishes, but sometimes crabs and other fun things get mixed in! I also emphasize lowering the barrier of entry to learn new tools/methods and try to develop user-friendly tools within my discipline.

About Me

I’m an marine fish ecologist masquerading as a bioinformatician/geneticist. I studied a coastal shark species for my Masters degree and all the tuna species for my PhD.

Over the years I developed an affinity for the technical and analytical parts of research, along with a [some would argue] pedantic attention to detail in presentation aesthetics. As a result, I design 99% of all of my graphics, templates, gifs from scratch.

I also adhere to modern approaches to research reproducibility, so I lean heavily on integrating GitHub, Jupyter Notebooks, conda environments, and Snakemake workflows for ~100% transparency.

Besides work, I enjoy playing guitar, cooking, hiking, swimming, rock climbing, scuba diving, relaxing and doing nothing, coding in Julia, carpentry, and the occasional metroidvania or RPG video game.

Here are a few technologies I've been working with recently:
  • Julia
  • R
  • Python
  • Bash
  • Jupyter
  • Snakemake
  • SLURM
  • ddRAD-seq
  • Haplotag linked-reads
  • Oxford Nanopore
  • GitHub Actions

Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow - Cornell University
Sept 2023 - present
Using haplotag linked-read technology, I’m investigating the population-level climate change induce range shifts in the American Shad (Alosa sapidissima).
STEM Technical Developer - eCornell
Aug 2021 - Sept 2023

I worked as a Technical Developer for STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) courses. The courses included:

  • Big data management
  • Machine learning
  • Natural language processing
  • SQL database management
  • Building interactive devices with circuitry and microcontrollers
PhD Student/Research Assistant - Univ Southern Mississippi
Jan 2016 - Mar 2022

I was a PhD student under the advisement of Dr. Eric Saillant at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, MS. My committee included Dr. Leila Hamdan, Dr. Kenneth Jones, Dr. Frank Hernandez, and the legendary James “Jim” Franks.

  • Assembled 5 tuna genomes (long reads, short reads, hybrid)
  • Created linkage maps from F1 crosses
  • ddRAD-seq
  • Whole-genome evolutionary comparisons
  • Population structure and demography of Blackfin and Yellowfin tunas
Masters Student/Research Assistant - TAMU-Corpus Christi
Aug 2012 - Dec 2015

I was a Masters student under the advisement of Dr. David Portnoy at Texas A&M Univeristy - Corpus Christi. My committee included Drs. Derek Hogan and Jose Guardiola. I was also mentored under the watchful eye of Dr. Stuart Willis. [link]

  • ddRAD-seq
  • Coastal shark longlining
  • Teaching Assistant: Anatomy and Physiology, Biology
Fellow - Eurasia Foundation
Mar 2014 - May 2014
I was part of a team consisting of experts from Russia and the United States to review best practices of the maintenance and stewardship of national parks and refuges between the two nations.
Intern - Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Aug 2012 - Aug 2014
I was an intern in the Carmichael lab (oyster ecology/restoration, manatee ecology, sediment microchemistry) and the Powers lab (reef fish, shark, and oyster ecology).
GS-05 Wildlife Technician - USDA
June 2011 - Dec 2011
I was a member of a team stationed at John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York City) to prevent wildlife-aviation conflicts. This included monitoring the taxiways and airport perimeter, and wildlife removal.

Education

2017 - 2022
Doctor of Philosophy - Coastal Sciences
University of Southern Mississippi

Advisor: Eric Saillant

  • Chapter 1: Genomic resources for the Yellowfin tuna - link
  • Chapter 2: Population structure and demography of the Yellowfin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean
  • Chapter 3: Population structure and demography of the Blackfin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean - link
  • Chapter 4: Evolutionary history of the Thunnus genus using whole genome comparisons
2014 - 2016
Master of Science - Fisheries and Mariculture
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
Advisor: David Portnoy Project: Population structure and demography of the Blacknose shark in the Atlantic Ocean link
2007 - 2020
Bachelor of Science - Aquatics and Fisheries Science
State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry

Advisor: Kimberly Schulz

Project: Trophic differences in planktonic assemblages between a pristine and invaded lake in the Adirondacks

Projects

Harpy
Pipeline Analysis R Python Bash
Harpy
Haplotagging data processing pipeline
PopGen.jl
Julia Analysis
PopGen.jl
Population genetic analyses in the Julia language
LepWrap
Pipeline Analysis R Python Bash
LepWrap
A Snakemake-based pipeline to run LepMap3 and LepAnchor
Gust
Pipeline Analysis
Gust
A Snakemake-based pipeline for whole-genome comparison and phyolgenetic analysis using genome assemblies
dDocent
Pipeline Analysis Bash
dDocent
A pipeline for RAD sequencing

Get in Touch

I’m pretty responsive to emails. If you would like to get in touch, don’t hesistate to write!