Spatial Eco-Evolutionary Genetics

Biography

I was born in Germany in 1980, and moved to Kosovo in 1985, where I graduated from high school in 1999. After the war in Kosovo, I worked for three years as an interpreter for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo.
In 2002, I was admitted to Yale University, and moved to the United States to start college. I received a B.A. in Environmental Studies in 2007. As part of this degree, I did fieldwork on the Galapagos Islands in the summer of 2006, and a year later completed my thesis, Galapagos giant tortoise conservation on the island of Santa Cruz: morphological and genetic distinctiveness of a newly discovered taxon, under the supervision of Dr. Adalgisa Caccone. Upon graduation, I worked as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Caccone until 2012. This experience resulted in a long-term involvement in population/landscape genetics projects related to a disease vector, tsetse.
I started my Ph.D. journey in 2012, by enrolling in the Natural Resources program at Cornell University. In January 2014, I left the program at Cornell University and enrolled in the Biological Science program at the University of Mississippi. There, under the mentorship of Dr. Ryan Garrick, I did research on the evolutionary history of subterranean termites in the forest ecosystems of the Appalachian Mts. and received my Ph.D. in May 2020.
For my first postdoctoral position, I moved back to Europe, and lived for a year in Sweden. I worked with Profs. Frank Johansson and Jacob Hoglund in the Department of Ecology and Genetics at Uppsala University. There, I did research on the influence of urban environments and landscape connectivity on aquatic invertebrate biodiversity in urban ponds, as well as (epi-)genetic variation within species.
As of August 2021, I am an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Forest Service, where I work with Dr. Susan Adams as part of the Aquatic Conservation and Ecology team. This work entails spatial and temporal modeling of stream temperatures aimed at disentangling effects of climate change on diversity of crayfish communities in Mississippi streams.

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow

U.S. Forest Service

Aug 2021 – Present Oxford, Mississippi, USA

Research:

  • Spatial and temporal modeling of stream temperatures, response to climate change, and effects on freshwater biodiversity
 
 
 
 
 

Postdoctoral Researcher

Uppsala University

Aug 2020 – Aug 2021 Uppsala, Sweden

Research:

  • Community genetics in urban environments: connectivity among invertebrate populations/communities in urban ponds and the relationship between (epi-)genetic diversity (in meta-populations) and species diversity (in meta-communities)
 
 
 
 
 

Ph.D. Student

University of Mississippi

Jan 2014 – May 2020 University, Mississippi, USA

Research:

  • Evolutionary history of subterranean termites in the geographic and ecological context of the Appalachian Mountains

    • Ecological drivers of species distributions and niche overlap for three subterranean termite species in the southern Appalachian Mountains
    • The role of glacial-interglacial climate change in shaping the genetic structure of eastern subterranean termites in the southern Appalachian Mountains
    • Tree canopy cover and species richness in the Appalachian Mountains modulate epigenetic changes in the eastern subterranean termite
    • A novel metric that captures functional landscape connectivity at multiple scales, from alleles to communities
 
 
 
 
 

Graduate Teaching Assistant

University of Mississippi

Jan 2014 – May 2020 University, Mississippi, USA

Courses taught:

  • Genetics Lab (Fall 2015-Spring 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2020)
  • Cell and Molecular Biology Lab (Spring 2019)
  • Population Genetics Computer Lab (Spring 2018)
  • Inquiry into Life Lab I: Human Biology (Spring 2014-Spring 2015)
  • Biological Sciences I Lab (Fall 2014)
  • Inquiry into Life Lab II: Diversity and the Environment (Spring 2014)

Guest lectures:

  • Course: Evolution; Title: Genetic Drift and the Founder Effect (30 Oct 2019)
  • Course: Genetics; Title: Population Genetics (5 Mar 2019; 8 Mar 2018)
  • Course: Integrated Science; Title: Classical and Modern Genetics (13 Apr 2018)

When not teaching:

  • Fall 2019 (Awarded University of Mississippi Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship)
  • Summer 2015-2018 (Awarded University of Mississippi Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship)
 
 
 
 
 

Graduate Research Assistant

Cornell University

Aug 2012 – Aug 2013 Ithaca, New York, USA

Research:

  • Eastern oyster conservation research: spatio-temporal genetic variation and gene-environment association along a salinity gradient
 
 
 
 
 

Research Assistant

Yale University

Jun 2007 – Aug 2012 New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Research:

  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology:

    • Galapagos giant tortoise conservation research: phylogeography, speciation, hybridization
    • Disease vector (tsetse) research: spatio-temporal patterns of genetic variation and host-parasite interactions

Service:

  • DNA Analysis Facility on Science Hill:

    • Training of staff/students in molecular techniques and data analysis
    • Operation and maintenance of sequencing equipment and software

Service

Outreach

Nov 2021 – Dec 2022

Skype-a-Scientist (3)

Organizing Committee

Feb 2021
Revolution: Annual Research Symposium (18-19 Feb 2021, Uppsala, Sweden)

Editor

Jun 2020 – Sep 2022

Associate Editor (2):

  • Frontiers in Marine Science
  • Insects

Peer Review

Sep 2014 – Oct 2022

Reviews (21):

  • Ecology and Evolution (4)
  • Bulletin of Entomological Research (3)
  • Insect Systematics and Diversity (3)
  • Communications Biology (2)
  • Molecular Ecology (2)
  • Animal Microbiome (1)
  • Basic and Applied Ecology (1)
  • Conservation Genetics (1)
  • Infection, Genetics and Evolution (1)
  • Insects (1)
  • Land (1)
  • PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (1)

Projects

Pond_Conn: Urban Pond Metacommunities and Landscape Connectivity

MSconn: Multi-Scale Landscape Connectivity

NALgen: Neutral and Adaptive Landscape Genetics

Glacial-Interglacial Cycles and Genetic Structure in Eastern Subterranean Termites

Forest Ecosystems and Epigenetic Variation in Eastern Subterranean Termites

Talks

Publications

= Equal Contribution

35. Mathieu Pelissie, Frank Johansson, Chaz Hyseni: Pushed northward by climate change: range shifts with a chance of co-occurrence reshuffling in the forecast for northern European odonates. Environmental Entomology, 2022. PDF

34. Renan Bosque, Chaz Hyseni, Maria Luiza Santos, Eduardo Rangel, Camila Dias, Jacob Hearin, Nelson Silva Jr, Fabricius Domingos, Guarino Colli, Brice Noonan: Mullerian mimicry and the colouration patterns of sympatric coral snakes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2022. PDF

33. Chaz Hyseni, Jani Heino, Luis Mauricio Bini, Ulf Bjelke, Frank Johansson: The importance of blue and green landscape connectivity for biodiversity in urban ponds. Basic and Applied Ecology, 2021. PDF

32. Ryan Garrick, Chaz Hyseni, Isis Arantes, Louis Zachos, Peter Zee, Jeffrey Oliver: Is phylogeographic congruence predicted by historical habitat stability, or ecological co-associations? Insect Systematics and Diversity, 2021. PDF

31. Susan Adams, Scott Hereford, Chaz Hyseni: Prescribed fire and mechanical vegetation treatments in relation to burrow densities of primary burrowing crayfishes. Water, 2021. PDF

30. Anusha Bishop, Giuseppe Amatulli, Chaz Hyseni, Evlyn Pless, Rosemary Bateta, Winnie Okeyo, Paul Mireji, Sylvance Okoth, Imna Malele, Grace Murilla, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone, Norah Saarman: A machine learning approach to integrating genetic and ecological data in tsetse flies (Glossina pallidipes) for spatially explicit vector control planning. Evolutionary Applications, 2021. PDF

29. Ryan Garrick, Chaz Hyseni, Isis Arantes: Efficient summary statistics for detecting lineage fusion from phylogeographic datasets. Journal of Biogeography, 2020. PDF

28. Daniela Schneider, Norah Saarman, Maria Onyango, Chaz Hyseni, Robert Opiro, Richard Echodu, Michelle O’Neill, Danielle Bloch, Aurelien Vigneron, TJ Johnson, Kirstin Dion, Brian Weiss, Elizabeth Opiyo, Adalgisa Caccone, Serap Aksoy: Spatio-temporal distribution of Spiroplasma infections in the tsetse fly (Glossina fuscipes fuscipes) in northern Uganda. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2019. PDF

27. Chaz Hyseni, Ryan Garrick: The role of glacial-interglacial climate change in shaping the genetic structure of eastern subterranean termites in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. Ecology and Evolution, 2019. PDF

26. Ryan Garrick, Dana Reppel, Jeremy Morgan, Stephanie Burgess, Chaz Hyseni, Reese Worthington, Michael Ulyshen: Trophic interactions among dead-wood-dependent forest arthropods in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. Food Webs, 2019. PDF

25. Ryan Garrick, John Banusiewicz, Stephanie Burgess, Chaz Hyseni, Rebecca Symula: Extending phylogeography to account for lineage fusion. Journal of Biogeography, 2019. PDF

24. Chaz Hyseni, Ryan Garrick: Ecological drivers of species distributions and niche overlap for three subterranean termite species in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. Insects, 2019. PDF

23. Norah Saarman, Robert Opiro, Chaz Hyseni, Richard Echodu, Elizabeth Opiyo, Kirstin Dion, TJ Johnson, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: The population genomics of multiple tsetse fly (Glossina fuscipes fuscipes) admixture zones in Uganda. Molecular Ecology, 2019. PDF

22. Norah Saarman, Mary Burak, Robert Opiro, Chaz Hyseni, Richard Echodu, Kirstin Dion, Elizabeth Opiyo, Augustine Dunn, Giuseppe Amatulli, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: A spatial genetics approach to inform vector control of tsetse flies (Glossina fuscipes fuscipes ) in Northern Uganda. Ecology and Evolution, 2018. PDF

21. Agapitus Kato, Chaz Hyseni, Loyce Okedi, Johnson Ouma, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone, Charles Masembe: Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence and diversity of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in the Lake Victoria basin of Uganda: implications for control. Parasites and Vectors, 2015. PDF

20. Ryan Garrick, Isabel Bonatelli, Chaz Hyseni, Ariadna Morales, Tara Pelletier, Manolo Perez, Edwin Rice, Jordan Satler, Rebecca Symula, Maria Tereza Thome, Bryan Carstens: The evolution of phylogeographic data sets. Molecular Ecology, 2015. PDF

19. Ryan Garrick, Brittney Kajdacsi, Michael Russello, Edgar Benavides, Chaz Hyseni, James Gibbs, Washington Tapia, Adalgisa Caccone: Naturally rare versus newly rare: demographic inferences on two timescales inform conservation of Galapagos giant tortoises. Ecology and Evolution, 2015. PDF

18. Ryan Garrick, Benjamin Collins, Rachel Yi, Rodney Dyer, Chaz Hyseni: Identification of eastern United States Reticulitermes termite species via PCR-RFLP, assessed using training and test data. Insects, 2015. PDF

17. Ryan Garrick, Edgar Benavides, Michael Russello, Chaz Hyseni, Danielle Edwards, James Gibbs, Washington Tapia, Claudio Ciofi, Adalgisa Caccone: Lineage fusion in Galapagos giant tortoises. Molecular Ecology, 2014. PDF

16. Sarah Federman, Chaz Hyseni, Wendy Clement, Michael Oatham, Adalgisa Caccone: Habitat fragmentation and the genetic structure of the Amazonian palm Mauritia flexuosa L.f. (Arecaceae) on the island of Trinidad. Conservation Genetics, 2013. PDF

15. Brittney Kajdacsi, Federico Costa, Chaz Hyseni, Fleur Porter, Julia Brown, Gorete Rodrigues, Helena Farias, Mitermayer Reis, James Childs, Albert Ko, Adalgisa Caccone: Urban population genetics of slum-dwelling rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Salvador, Brazil. Molecular Ecology, 2013. PDF

14. Danielle Edwards, Edgar Benavides, Ryan Garrick, James Gibbs, Michael Russello, Kirstin Dion, Chaz Hyseni, Joseph Flanagan, Washington Tapia, Adalgisa Caccone: The genetic legacy of Lonesome George survives: giant tortoises with Pinta Island ancestry identified in Galapagos. Biological Conservation, 2013. PDF

13. Mark Sistrom, Richard Echodu, Chaz Hyseni, John Enyaru, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: Taking advantage of genomic data to develop reliable microsatellite loci in Trypanosoma brucei. Molecular Ecology Resources, 2013. PDF

12. Richard Echodu, Mark Sistrom, Chaz Hyseni, John Enyaru, Loyce Okedi, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: Genetically distinct Glossina fuscipes fuscipes populations in the lake Kyoga region of Uganda and its relevance for human African trypanosomiasis. BioMed Research International, 2013. PDF

11. Ryan Garrick, Edgar Benavides, Michael Russello, James Gibbs, Nikos Poulakakis, Kirstin Dion, Chaz Hyseni, Brittney Kajdacsi, Lady Marquez, Sarah Bahan, Claudio Ciofi, Washington Tapia, Adalgisa Caccone: Genetic rediscovery of an ‘extinct’ Galapagos giant tortoise species. Current Biology, 2012 PDF

10. Uzma Alam=, Chaz Hyseni=, Rebecca Symula, Corey Brelsfoard, Yineng Wu, Oleg Kruglov, Jingwen Wang, Richard Echodu, Victor Alioni, Loyce Okedi, Adalgisa Caccone, Serap Aksoy: Implications of microfauna-host interactions for trypanosome transmission dynamics in Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in Uganda. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2012 PDF

9. Sarah Federman, Chaz Hyseni, Wendy Clement, Adalgisa Caccone: Isolation of 13 novel highly polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Amazonian Palm Mauritia flexuosa L.f. (Arecaceae). Conservation Genetics Resources, 2012. PDF

8. Chaz Hyseni=, Agapitus Kato=, Loyce Okedi, Charles Masembe, Johnson Ouma, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: The population structure of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in the Lake Victoria basin in Uganda: implications for vector control. Parasites and Vectors, 2012. PDF

7. Chaz Hyseni, Jon Beadell, Zaneli Gomez Ocampo, Johnson Ouma, Loyce Okedi, Michael Gaunt, Adalgisa Caccone: The G.m. morsitans (Diptera: Glossinidae) genome as a source of microsatellite markers for other tsetse fly (Glossina) species. Molecular Ecology Resources, 2011. PDF

6. Johnson Ouma, Jon Beadell, Chaz Hyseni, Loyce Okedi, Elliot Krafsur, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: Genetic diversity and population structure of Glossina pallidipes in Uganda and western Kenya. Parasites and Vectors, 2011. PDF

5. Richard Echodu, Jon Beadell, Loyce Okedi, Chaz Hyseni, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: Temporal stability of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes populations in Uganda. Parasites and Vectors, 2011. PDF

4. Jon Beadell, Chaz Hyseni, Patrick Abila, Rogers Azabo, John Enyaru, Johnson Ouma, Yassir Mohammed, Loyce Okedi, Serap Aksoy, Adalgisa Caccone: Phylogeography and population structure of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in Uganda: implications for control of tsetse. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2010. PDF

3. Ylenia Chiari=, Chaz Hyseni=, Tom Fritts, Scott Glaberman, Cruz Marquez, James Gibbs, Julien Claude, Adalgisa Caccone: Morphometrics parallel genetics in a newly discovered and endangered taxon of Galapagos tortoise. PLoS ONE, 2009. PDF

2. Patricia Brennan, Chaz Hyseni: Development of microsatellite markers for parentage analysis in the great tinamou (Tinamus major). Molecular Ecology Resources, 2008. PDF

1. Michael Russello, Chaz Hyseni, James Gibbs, S Cruz, Cruz Marquez, Washington Tapia, Petr Velensky, Jeffrey Powell, Adalgisa Caccone: Lineage identification of Galapagos tortoises in captivity worldwide. Animal Conservation, 2007. PDF

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