Welcome!
​I am an evolutionary ecologist with keen interests in animal behavior, genetics and genomics, adaptation, and conservation biology.

I am a senior research scientist with CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, and Adjunct Fellow in Applied BioSciences at Macquarie University. I utilize approaches from evolutionary biology and population genetics, along with modern whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatic tools to address questions in invasive species management and wildlife conservation.

Have a look at my current CV here.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

TEACHING

Cornell University
Course Instructor, Concepts in Sexual Selection Theory, 2012

University of Arizona
Graduate Teaching Associate:
     Animal Behavior, 2008
     Vertebrate Physiology, 2006, 2008, 2009
     Evolution of Animal Form & Function, 2004

Secondary Education
High School Science Teacher (Hyde School, Bath, ME)
     Biology, Biology II, and Chemistry, 2001 – 2003   

LAB MEMEBERS et al.​

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HDR STUDENTS
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Nikki Van de Weyer, BSc (Hons), MRes. Nikki’s PhD dissertation is focused on social behaviour and kin structure of feral mouse populations in agricultural systems. Using a combination of both field-based studies and genetic techniques, this research aims to improve our understanding of breeding biology and population dynamics of these pest populations that impact grain production in Australia. 

COLLABORATORS, MENTORS, and OTHER FINE PEOPLE
​Tanja Strive, CSIRO Health & Biosecurity
Peter Brown, CSIRO Health & Biosecurity​
Wendy Ruscoe, CSIRO Health & Biosecurity
Steve Henry, CSIRO Health & Biosecurity
Toni Piaggio, USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center
​Aaron Shiels, USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center
Zaid Abdo, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology, Colorado State University
Sara Oyler-McCance, USGS Fort Collins Science Center
Cam Aldridge, USGS Fort Collins Science Center & NREL Colorado State University
Kerry Shaw, Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, Cornell University
Alex Badyaev, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
Nat Wheelwright, Department of Biology, Bowdoin College

PUBLICATIONS

​Forthcoming

Oh, K. P., Van de Weyer, N., Ruscoe, W. A., Henry, S., & P. R. Brown. Landscape genomics of a plaguing rodent: application of machine learning to understand environmental factors affecting gene flow. In prep

Hinds, L. A., Oh, K. P., & G. Massei. Emerging technologies for rodent management (Invited Chapter) in J. Jacob and G. Singleton (Eds.) Rodent Pests: Ecology and Management. In review

Birand, A., Hay, B., Combs, M., Gierus, L., Horak, K., Oh, K. P., Robertson, L., Thomas, P. Q., Velasquez-Escobar, A., Will, D., Maselko, M. & Piaggio, A. J. The LAST mile: evaluating supplemental genetic biocontrol strategies for eradicating remnant populations of invasive rodents on islands. In review

Journal Articles

34. Shiels, A. B., Oh, K. P., & Piaggio, A. J. (2024) Evaluating biosecurity of physical containment at USDA animal facilities to prepare for genetically modified rodent trials. Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference 31. full text

33. Van de Weyer, N. J., Ruscoe, W., Henry, S., Robinson, F., Hinds, L. A., Brown, P. B., & Oh, K. P. (2024) Exploring patterns of female house mouse spatial organisation among outbreaking and stable populations. Ecology & Evolution 14:e10843. full text

32. Oh, K. P., Van de Weyer, N., Ruscoe, W. A., Henry, S., & Brown, P. R. (2023) From chip to SNP: rapid development and evaluation of a targeted capture genotyping-by-sequencing approach to support research and management of a plaguing rodent. PLOS ONE 18(8):e0288701 full text

31. Gierus, L., Birand, A., Bunting, M. D., Godahewa, G. I., Piltz, S. G., Oh, K. P., Piaggio, A. J., Threadgill, D. W., Godwin, J., Edwards, O., Cassey, P., Ross, J. V., Prowse, T. A. A., & Thomas, P. Q. (2022) Leveraging a natural murine meiotic drive to suppress invasive populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 119:e2213308119 full text media coverage: 1,2,3,4

30. Ruscoe, W. A., Brown, P. R., Henry, S., Hinds, L. A., Van de Weyer, N. J., Robinson, F., Oh, K. P., & Duncan, R. P. (2022) Improved mouse control in the field with a higher dose zinc phosphide bait. Wildlife Research 50:335-343 full text

29. Carter, L., Mankad, A., Campbell, S., Ruscoe, W., Oh, K. P., Brown, P. R., Byrne, M., Tizard, M., & Strive, T. (2022) Conditions for investment in genetic biocontrol of pest vertebrates in Australia. Frontiers in Agronomy 3:806569. full text

28. Oh, K. P., & Shaw, K. L. (2021) Axes of multivariate sexual signal divergence among incipient species: concordance with selection, genetic variation, and phenotypic plasticity. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 35:109–123. full text

27. Oh, K. P., Shiels, A. B., Shiels, L., Blondel, D. V., Campbell, K. J., Saah, J. R., Lloyd, A. L., Thomas, P. Q., Gould, F., Abdo, Z., Godwin, J. R., & Piaggio, A. J. (2021). Population genomics of invasive rodents on islands: genetic consequences of colonization and prospects for localized synthetic gene drive. Evolutionary Applications 14:1421–1435. full text

26. Teem, J., Alphey, L., Descamps, S., Edgington, M., Edwards, O., Gemmell, N., Harvey-Samuel, T., Melnick, R., Oh, K. P., Piaggio, A. J., Saah, J. R., Schill, D., Thomas, P., Smith, T., & Roberts, A. (2020). Genetic biocontrol for invasive species. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 8:452. full text

25. Sudweeks, J., Hollingsworth, B., Blondel, D. V., Campbell, K. J., Dhole, S., Eisemann, J. D., Edwards, O., Godwin, J., Howald, G. R., Oh, K. P., Piaggio, A. J., Prowse, T. A. A., Ross, J. V., Saah, J. R., Shiels, A. B., Thomas, P. Q., Vella, M. R., Gould, F., & Lloyd, A. L. (2019). Locally fixed alleles: a method to localize gene drive to island populations. Scientific Reports 9: 15821. full text

24. Godwin, J., Serr, M., Barnhill-Dilling, S. K., Blondel, D., Brown, P., Campbell, K., Delborne, J., Prowse, T., Oh, K. P., Saah, J., & Thomas, P. Q. (2019). Rodent gene drives for conservation: opportunities and data needs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B—Biological Sciences 286: 20191606. full text

23. Blankers, T., Oh, K. P., & Shaw, K. L. (2019). Parallel genomic architecture underlies repeated sexual signal divergence in Hawaiian Laupala crickets. Proceedings of the Royal Society B—Biological Sciences 286: 20191479. full text

22. Zimmerman, S., Oh, K. P., Cornman, R. S., Aldridge, C. L., & Oyler-McCance, S. J. (2019). Signatures of adaptive divergence among populations of an avian species of conservation concern. Evolutionary Applications 12(8): 1661–1677 full text

21. Oh, K. P., Aldridge, C. L., Forbey, J. S., Dadabay, C. Y., & Oyler-McCance, S. J. (2019). Conservation genomics in the sagebrush sea: population divergence, demographic history, and local adaptation in sage-grouse (Centrocercus spp.). Genome Biology and Evolution 11(7): 2023–2034. full text

20. Blankers, T., Oh, K. P., & Shaw, K. L. (2018). The genetics of behavioral isolation in an island system. Genes 9(7): 346 full text

19. Blankers, T., Oh, K. P., Bombarely, A., & Shaw, K. L. (2018). The genomic architecture of a rapid island radiation: recombination rate variation, chromosome structure, and genome assembly of the Hawaiian cricket Laupala. Genetics 209(4): 1329–1344. full text

18. Oyler-McCance, S. J., Oh, K. P., Langin, K. M., & Aldridge, C. L. (2016). A field ornithologist’s guide to genomics: practical considerations for ecology and conservation. The Auk 133(4): 626-648. full text

17. Oh, K. P., & Shaw, K. L. (2013). Multivariate sexual selection in a rapidly evolving speciation phenotype. Proceedings of the Royal Society B—Biological Sciences 280: 20130482. full text

16. Oh, K. P., Conte, G., & Shaw, K. L. (2013). Founder effects and the evolution of asymmetrical sexual isolation in a rapidly-speciating clade. Current Zoology 59: 230-238. full text

15. Oh, K. P., Fergus, D. J., Grace, J. L., & Shaw, K. L. (2012). Interspecific genetics of speciation phenotypes: song and preference coevolution in Hawaiian crickets. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 25: 1500-1512. full text

14. Shaw, K. L., Ellison, C. K., Oh, K. P. & Wiley, C. (2011). Pleiotropy, “sexy” traits, and speciation. Behavioral Ecology 22: 1154-1155. full text

13. Oh, K. P. (2011). Inclusive fitness of ‘kissing cousins’: new evidence of a role for kin selection in the evolution of extra-pair mating in birds. Molecular Ecology 20: 2657-2659. full text

12. Oh, K. P., & Badyaev, A. V. (2010). Structure of social networks in a passerine bird: consequences for sexual selection and the evolution of mating strategies. American Naturalist 176: E80-E89. full text media coverage: 1,2,3,4

11. Stein, L. R., Oh, K. P., & Badyaev, A. V. (2010). Fitness consequences of male provisioning of incubating females in a desert passerine bird. Journal of Ornithology 151: 227-234. full text

10. Oh, K. P. & Badyaev, A. V. (2009). Isolation and characterization of seventeen microsatellite loci for the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). Molecular Ecology Resources 9: 1029-1031. full text journal cover

9. Oh, K. P. & Badyaev, A. V. (2008). Evolution of adaptation and mate choice: parental relatedness affects expression of phenotypic variance in a natural population. Evolutionary Biology 35: 111-124. full text

8. Badyaev, A. V., Young, R. L., Oh, K. P., & Addison, C. (2008). Evolution on a local scale: Developmental, functional, and genetic bases of divergence in bill form and associated changes in song structure between adjacent habitats. Evolution 62: 1951-1964. full text journal cover

7. Badyaev, A. V., & Oh, K. P. (2008). Environmental induction and phenotypic retention of adaptive maternal effects. BMC Evolutionary Biology 8:3 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-3. full text

6. Lindstedt, E., Oh, K. P., & Badyaev, A. V. (2007). Ecological, social, and genetic contingency of extrapair behavior in a socially monogamous bird. Journal of Avian Biology 38: 214-238.

5. Oh, K. P. & Badyaev, A. V. (2006). Adaptive genetic complementarity in mate choice coexists with preference for elaborate sexual traits. Proceedings of the Royal Society B—Biological Sciences 273: 1913-1919. full text media coverage: 1,2,3

4. Badyaev, A. V., Hamstra, T. L., Oh, K. P., & Acevedo Seaman, D. (2006). Sex-biased maternal effects reduce ectoparasite-induced mortality in a passerine bird. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 103: 14406­-14411. full text

3. Badyaev, A. V., Oh, K. P., & Mui, R. (2006). Evolution of sex-biased maternal effects in birds: II. Contrasting sex-specific oocyte competition in native and recently established populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 909-921. full text

Book Chapters

2. Oyler-McCance, S. J., Oh, K. P., Zimmerman, S., & Aldridge, C. L. (2021). The transformative impact of genomics on sage-grouse conservation and management (Invited Chapter) in P. A. Hohenlohe and O. P. Rajora (Eds.) Population Genomics: Wildlife. (pp. 523-546) Springer, Cham. full text

1. Clark, L., Eisemann, J., Godwin, J., Horak, K., Oh, K. P., O’Hare, J., Piaggio, A. J., Pepin, K., & Ruell, E. (2020) Invasive species control and resolution of human-wildlife conflict: a framework for chemical and genetically-based management methods. In D. L. Hawksworth, M. P. de Miranda, and A. Chaurasia (Eds.), GMOs: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Processes. Springer, Switzerland. full text

Reports

Ruscoe, W., Campbell, S., Carter, L., Mankad, A., Brown, P. R., Byrne, M., Oh, K. P., Tizard, M., & Strive, T. (2021) Genetic Biocontrol Technology for Vertebrate Pests: Decision Framework Summary. Report to Centre for Invasive Species Solutions. Canberra, Australia. full text

Ruscoe, W., Mankad, A., Carter, L., Campbell, S., Brown, P. R., Byrne, M., Oh, K. P., Tizard, M., & Strive, T. (2021) Decision and Implementation Framework for Investment in Genetic Biocontrol of Vertebrate Pest Species in Australia. Report to Centre for Invasive Species Solutions. Canberra, Australia.

Theses

Oh, K. P. 2009. Evolutionary dynamics of sexual traits: demographic, behavioral, and genetic contingencies. PhD dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
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Oh, K. P. 2001. The influence of age and sex on territory size in Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis). BA honors thesis, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME

Except where noted, all images and content © Copyright K. P. Oh 2019