Professor Cynthia Riginos

Professor

School of the Environment
Faculty of Science
c.riginos@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 52152

Overview

Ecological and evolutionary genomics

My research group uses genetic markers as tools for understanding dispersal and gene flow, often with conservation implications and most frequently focusing on highly dispersive marine animals such as fishes, mussels, and corals. We also study how gene flow and natural selection affect genomic variation and limit gene exchange across genomes, populations, and species.

Research Interests

  • Connectivity across land and seascapes
    How do habitat landscapes, ocean depth, and oceanography affect movements of individuals and genes? Can we identify source and linking populations in order to prioritize areas for conservation? How does environmentally mediated selection shape spatial patterns of population genetic variation?
  • Stochasticity in planktonic dispersal
    How does high temporal variability in sources of juvenile settlers affect evolutionary dynamics especially local adaptation? Does phenotypic plasticity allow niche specialization in the face of high gene flow?
  • Biological invasions, historical and modern
    What factors facilitate species expanding their ranges and colonizing new habitat? How do colonizing populations adapt to novel environments? Does hybridization with local species enhance invasiveness and rapid evolution?

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Arizona
  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, University of Arizona

Publications

  • Popovic, Iva, Bergeron, Lucie A., Bozec, Yves-Marie, Waldvogel, Ann-Marie, Howitt, Samantha M., Damjanovic, Katarina, Patel, Frances, Cabrera, Maria G., Wörheide, Gert, Uthicke, Sven and Riginos, Cynthia (2024). High germline mutation rates, but not extreme population outbreaks, influence genetic diversity in a keystone coral predator. PLOS Genetics, 20 (2), e1011129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011129

  • Riginos, Cynthia, Prata, Katharine, Popovic, Iva, Byrne, Ilha, Howitt, Samantha, Ishida, Hisatake and Meziere, Zoe (2024). Cryptic species and hybridisation in corals. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/ceeac62

  • Riginos, Cynthia, Prata, Katharine and Bongaerts, Pim (2024). Dispersal distances for shallow Agaricia corals. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/6c6e500

View all Publications

Available Projects

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Note for students: Professor Cynthia Riginos is not currently available to take on new students.

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

Professor Cynthia Riginos is not currently available to take on new students.