18/11/24
Jenna Murray begins a Summer Research Bursary project this week and will contribute to our ongoing research on avian parasites.
14/10/24
Dr. Chenhua Li, recently graduated from the University of Calgary (Canada), joins our lab as a new postdoctoral fellow.
01/10/24
Yann Boraud, a university student from France, joins us for a six-month internship.
12/09/24
Robert and Jerusha attend the Trematodes 2024 conference, in Brisbane, Australia, catching up with former lab members as well as making new friends. [see photo]
29/08/24
Former and current members of the Parasite Lab attend the joint meeting of the New Zealand and Australian Societies for Parasitology, in Auckland, where Robert is awarded a Fellowship of the Australian Society for Parasitology. [see photo]
17/06/24
Robert receives the 2024 Eminent Parasitologist Award from the American Society of Parasitologists, at their meeting in Denver, USA, and shares the occasion with 8 former members of our Parasite Lab. [see photo]
29/04/24
Dr. Ryota Hasegawa, recently graduated from Hokkaido University, joins our lab as a new postdoctoral fellow, funded by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), for the next two years.
23/03/24
Evening drinks at Diane and Robert's place to celebrate the great news Robert received earlier this month... More about this in June! [see photo]
02/02/24
Daniela (now a postdoc at Stanford University) wins the 2023 Mason Prize for best paper by a Zoology graduate student for this article. Congratulations Daniela!
25/01/24
Rosemary Presburger, recently graduated from the University of California at Riverside, joins our lab as a new MSc student.
09/12/23
End-of-year party for the Parasite Lab at Diane and Robert's place! [see group photo]
29/11/23
The Parasite Lab shares farewell drinks with Daniela, who leaves us this week for a postdoc at Stanford University. [see photo]
27/11/23
The Parasite Lab hosts Prof. Shokoofeh Shamsi, from Charles Sturt University, Australia, for a one-week visit. [see photo]
22/11/23
Jacob Grupp begins a Summer Research Bursary project this week and will work as part of our parasite microbiome programme.
01/09/23
Our lab welcomes two new members: Katie Buschang and Cameron McDougall join us as PhD students. Katie arrives from the USA, whereas Cameron completed his Honours degree in our lab last year.
22/08/23
The Parasite Lab hosts Dr Maureen Duflot, from the ANSES Laboratory for Food Safety (Boulogne-sur-Mer, France), for a short visit.
19/08/23
Daniela receives her PhD degree at graduation. [see photo]
31/05/23
The parasite lab attends the conference of the New Zealand Society of Parasitology in Dunedin, where Célia wins the prize for Best Student Poster! [see dinner photo]
30/05/23
Our new lab t-shirts have arrived (designed by lab intern Célia Koellsch)! [see shirt photo]
05/05/23
The Parasite Lab hosts Dr Kevin Lafferty, from the US Geological Survey and University of California at Santa Barbara, for a short visit and a seminar. [see dinner photo]
17/04/23
The Parasite Lab celebrates with Daniela after her successful PhD thesis oral defense! [see photo]
25/03/23
The Parasite Lab and Zoology friends take part in the Relay for Life walkathon and raise over $3100 for the Cancer Society! [see photo]
28/02/23
Our lab welcomes three new members: Jérémy Dubrulle joins us as an Honours student co-supervised by Dr Jemma Geoghegan in the Microbiology Department, and both Rionagh Nogher and Sila Viriyautsahakul join us as MSc students.
17/02/23
Célia Koellsch, a university student from France, joins us for a six-month internship.
14/02/23
Jerusha wins the 2022 Mason Prize for best paper by a Zoology graduate student for this article. Congratulations Jerusha!
30/01/23
Visiting PhD student Kyle Shanebeck, from the University of Alberta (Canada) joins our group for the next five months.
24/01/23
Two visiting PhD students join our group this week: Eloïse Rochat, from the Arctic University of Norway will be with us for the next six months, and Simão Correia from Universidade de Aveiro in Portugal will be with us until the end of the year.
23/01/23
After completing her MSc and PhD in our group, Jerusha stays with us and starts today a three-and-a-half-year postdoc, in partnership with the Cawthron Institute and funded by a MBIE Endeavour grant.
14-17/12/22
Three members of our group receive their degree at graduation: Xuhong (MSc) and Cameron (BSc Honours) on the Wednesday [see photo], and Jerusha (PhD) on the Saturday [see photo].
19/11/22
End-of-year party for the Parasite Lab at Diane and Robert's place! [see group photo]
14/11/22
Prof. Maria Teresa Gonzalez, from the University of Antofagasta (Chile), joins our lab for a one-month sabbatical visit.
08/11/22
Emma O'Donnell and Tahlia Murray begin Summer Research Bursaries this week and will work on parasite diversity in native birds.
04/11/22
Prof. Michael Perlin, from the University of Louisville (Kentucky, USA), joins our lab for a two-month sabbatical visit.
20/10/22
Ryota Hasegawa, a PhD student from Hokkaido University in Japan, joins our lab for a two-month research visit.
12/09/22
Good news for our lab: Robert and Jerusha are part of a team led by Dr Kate Hutson (Cawthron Institute) that has just been awarded a MBIE Endeavour programme grant of NZ$9,969,000 (2022 to 2027) to establish a diagnostic pipeline for emerging aquatic diseases.
30/08/22
Jerusha submits her PhD thesis and rings the bell outside the Registry building to mark the occasion. [see photo]
14/05/22
Antoine receives his PhD degree at graduation. [see photo]
12/05/22
Our recent article on the etymology of parasite species names gets coverage in both Nature and Science.
07/04/22
The Parasite Lab celebrates with Upendra, who is about to leave for a postdoc at Harvard University, with drinks at Emerson's. [see photo]
12/03/22
The Parasite Lab raises funds for the Cancer Society by doing the Relay for Life (Covid-style!) at the Ross Creek Reserve. [see photo]
01/03/22
Tahlia Murray and Jacob Grupp join our research group as research interns for this semester.
23/02/22
The Parasite Lab celebrates with Antoine, who has just successfully defended his PhD thesis, with drinks at Emerson's. [see photo]
23/02/22
We welcome Dr. Priscila Salloum as a new postdoctoral fellow in our group. Priscila will be working on our new Marsden grant investigating the role of parasite microbiomes in host-parasite interactions.
23/02/22
Cameron McDougall, who just completed a Summer Research Bursary project in our group, stays with us for the year as an Honours student.
18/12/21
End-of-year & Christmas party for the Parasite Lab at Diane and Robert's place! [see group photo on the deck photo]
01/12/21
The Parasite Lab celebrates with Antoine, who has just submitted his PhD thesis, with drinks at Emerson's. [see photo]
08/11/21
A postdoc position is available in our lab, for someone with expertise and interests at the intersection of molecular ecology, evolutionary biology, microbial ecology and parasitology. Deadline for applications: 10th December 2021. [see advert]
08/11/21
Cameron McDougall joins our research group for the next 10 weeks on a Summer Research Bursary.
01/11/21
Good news for our lab: we have just been awarded a NZ$926,000 grant (2022 to 2025) from the Marsden Fund and a NZ$42,960 Otago Research Grant to continue our research on the role of microbiomes in shaping parasite ecology and evolution.
23-26/07/21
The Parasite Lab has a three-day writing retreat at the Cass Field Station, near Arthurs Pass in the Southern Alps [see photos]
11/06/21
Jeff Doherty is featured on the New Zealand Radio's Our changing world program, talking about his doctoral research on hairworm parasites (click here to listen to the podcast).
08/05/21
Eunji and Brandon receive their PhD degree at graduation. [see photo]
18/03/21
Curling night for the Parasite Lab! [see photo]
01/03/21
Caroline Williams, a former student in our group but now an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, visits our research group this week.
24/02/21
Sharn Milliken, a new Postgrad Diploma in Science student recently graduated from the University of Waikato, joins our research group.
19/12/20
End-of-year & Christmas party for the Parasite Lab at Diane and Robert's place! [see photo]
16/11/20
Undergraduate student Steven Ni joins our research group for the next 10 weeks on a Summer Research Bursary.
3-5/11/20
The Parasite Lab has a two-day working retreat hosted at the Marine Studies Centre (Portobello) and Quarantine Island lodge, and sponsored by Emerson's Brewery [see photos]
15/09/20
Enjoy the beautiful world of parasites as seen through scanning electron microscopy, set to the music of Mozart, in this short film by Bron Presswell. Watch the film here. Images by Bron Presswell and Jerusha Bennett, showing native parasites from New Zealand; supported by a University of Otago OMNI Electron Microscopy Student Research Award.
04/07/20
Mid-winter party for the Parasite Lab at Diane and Robert's place! [see photo]
23/06/20
Robert is interviewed on the Finding Genius Podcast (click here to listen to the podcast).
16/03/20
Amandine Sabadel joins our group as a new Research Fellow, funded by her own Marsden Fast-Start grant to investigate trophic interactions between parasites and their hosts, using compound-specific stable isotope analyses.
19/02/20
Xuhong (Rose) Chai, who has been volunteering in our lab the past couple of years, joins us as a new MSc student.
11/02/20
Leighton Thomas joins our group as a new Assistant Research Fellow, to work on a project aiming to test environmental DNA as a parasite monitoring tool. The project is supported by a University of Otago Research Grant.
06/02/20
Annika Cornelius, a PhD student from the Alfred Wegener Institute-Sylt, in Germany, and Eirik Henriksen, from the University of Tromsø, in Norway, join us for the next few months as visiting researchers.
3/02/20
Daniela de Angeli Dutra, a new PhD student from Brazil, joins our research group.
08/01/20
Céline Froissard, a university student from France, joins us for a six-month internship.
03/01/20
Dr. Pablo Tortosa, of Université de La Réunion (Reunion Island, Indian ocean), joins us for an eight-month sabbatical.
14/12/19
End-of-year party for the Parasite Lab at Diane and Robert's place! [see photo]
13/12/19
Congratulations to Ryan Herbison, who has just won the Fairlea Prize, awarded annually for the best paper by a Zoology student; Ryan won for his recent article in Proceedings of the Royal Society B [PDF].
25/11/19
Following his recent article in Proceedings of the Royal Society B [PDF], Ryan's research is featured in the New York Times (click here for article).
25/10/19
Joëlle Guitard, a Masters student from the University of Montreal (Canada), joins us as an intern for the next few months.
24/10/19
Several members of our research group attend the 2019 conference of the New Zealand Society of Parasitology right here in Dunedin [see photo from the conference], where Jerusha won the award for Best Student Talk and Eunji was the runner-up!
04/10/19
Tesia Lin, a university student from the USA, joins us as an intern for the next few months.
23/08/19
This week, we briefly hosted Dr. Marcela Espinaze (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) for a seminar and lunch. [see photo; Marcela second from left]
01/08/19
Another huge congratulations to Jeff, who just won the People's Choice Award at the full University of Otago grand final of the Three-Minute Thesis competition!
11/07/19
Big congratulations to Jeff, who just won the Division of Sciences Three-Minute Thesis competition! [see photo]
01/07/19
Jerusha Bennett, who has been in our group as a Masters student and then as a Research Assistant, will be staying with us for a few more years: she starts her PhD today!
28/06/19
Bowling night for the Parasite Lab, and a farewell to Ryan! [see photo]
29/04/19
Colin Décout, a university student from France, joins us as an intern for the next three months.
23/04/19
Bronwen is interviewed on RNZ National Radio regarding the transfer to the Otago Museum of the first instalment of our large and growing parasite collection (click here to listen to the interview).
15/04/19
Rebecca Meloche, a recent biology graduate from Canada, joins us as an intern for a few months.
11/04/19
Bronwen and Jerusha are featured in the Otago Daily Times following the transfer to the Otago Museum of the first instalment of our large and growing parasite collection (click here for article and video).
30/03/19
The Parasite lab raises >$1000 for the Cancer Society during the 2019 Relay for Life. [see photo]
14/02/19
Philippe Gagnon, a recent biology graduate from Canada, joins us as an intern for a few months.
15/12/18
Jerusha receives her Masters degree at graduation. [see photo]
07/12/18
End-of-year party for the Parasite Lab at Diane and Robert's place! [see photo]
22-24/11/18
The Parasite Lab has a two-day working retreat at Warrington [see photo]
16/11/18
Eunji wins the award for Best Poster at the 2019 Annual Zoology Postgraduate Student Symposium.
12/11/18
Xuhong (Rose) Chai, who has been volunteering in our lab this year, joins us as a Summer Research Bursary student.
25/10/18
Several members of our research group attend the 2018 conference of the New Zealand Society of Parasitology in Palmerston North [see photo from the conference], where Eunji won the award for Best Poster [see photo] and Brandon won for Best Talk [see photo].
21/10/18
This week, we are hosting Prof. Vanessa Ezenwa (University of Georgia, USA) for a brief visit.
17/09/18
Antoine Filion, a new PhD student from Canada, joins our research group.
30/08/18
Alan Fredy Eriksson, a PhD student from Universidade Federal Rural de Mato Grosso do Sul, in Brazil, joins us for a one-year research visit.
13/08/18
Paulo Mateus Martins Sobrinho, a PhD student from Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, in Brazil, joins us for a seven-month research visit.
16/07/18
Eleanor Wainwright, a university student from England, joins us as an intern for one year.
25/06/18
Sofia Castillo-Vielma, a university student from Hungary, joins us as an intern for two months.
15/05/18
Jocelyn Lindner, a new MSc student, joins our research group.
14/05/18
Sophie Courjal, a university student from France, joins us as an intern for two and a half months.
12/05/18
Two members of our research group receive their degree at graduation: Olivia (MSc) and Henry (PhD). [see photo]
08/05/18
Bowling night for the Parasite Lab! [see photo]
11/04/18
Several alumni of our group meet again at the spring meeting of the British Society for Parasitology, in Aberystwyth, Wales. [see photo]
15/03/18
Drinks at Ombrellos with Jerusha, who handed in her Masters thesis today! [see photo]
27/02/18
Jean-François Doherty, a new PhD student from Canada, joins our research group.
29/01/18
Micha Rosenkranz, a university student from Germany, joins us as an intern for four months.
16/12/17
A member of our research group, Ellie Hay, receives her Honours degree at graduation. [see photo]
02/11/17
A good few weeks for us: we are awarded a NZ$890,000 grant from the Marsden Fund to investigate the role of microbiomes in shaping parasite phenotypes from 2018 to 2021, and a NZ$41,850 Otago Research Grant to pursue work on evolutionary rates and diversification of parasites in 2018.
30/10/17
Ellie Hay wins the Vincent Award for best talk at the 2017 Zoology Postgraduate Student Symposium. [see Ellie during the presentation and after]
24/10/17
Prof. Kim Mouritsen, of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, joins us for a two-month sabbatical visit. Kim was a Research Fellow in our group many years ago...
04/08/17
The Parasite Lab cracks the Espionage [see photo] and Redemption [see photo] Escape games at Dunedin's old prison!
01/08/17
Eunji Park, a new PhD student from Korea, joins our research group.
09/06/17
Brandon Ruehle, a new PhD student from the USA, joins our research group.
03/05/17
Dovilė Murauskaitė, a new PhD student from Lithuania, joins our research group to work on a joint research project between our lab, AgResearch (New Zealand) and Teagasc (Ireland), funded through a Walsh Fellowship.
21/03/17
Applications are sought for a postdoctoral and PhD positions to study the molecular mechanisms through which parasitic worms alter the behaviour of their hosts; the chosen candidates will work in Professor Neil Gemmell's lab, in collaboration with our research group. [see postdoc advert and PhD advert]
08/02/17
Christian Selbach, a postdoctoral fellow from Germany funded by the DFG, joins our group for two years.
03/02/17
Sarah Goellner, a university student from Germany, joins us as an intern for three months.
20/01/17
Ellie Hay, who just completed a Summer Research Bursary project, stays with us for the year as an Honours student.
10/01/17
Prof. Randall Bernot, of Ball State University, Indiana, USA, joins us for a two-month sabbatical.
01/01/17
Robert takes over as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Helminthology.
05/12/16
Olivia McPherson, a new MSc student, joins our research group.
14/11/16
Ellie Hay joins us as a Summer Research Bursary student.
07/11/16
Dr. Kristina Lehnert, of University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany, joins us for a five-month sabbatical.
27/10/16
Several members of our research group attend the 2016 conference of the New Zealand Society of Parasitology in Queenstown. [see photo on shore of Lake Wakatipu]
09/09/16
Applications are sought for a PhD scholarship to study genetic diversity in multi-drug resistant gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep, as part of a joint research project between our lab, AgResearch (New Zealand) and Teagasc (Ireland), funded through a Walsh Fellowship. [see full advert]
05/09/16
Two new MSc students, Jerusha Bennett and Ryan Herbison, both BSc graduates of Otago, join our research group.
01/08/16
Prof. Hyeon-Cheol Kim, of Kangwon National University in the Republic of Korea, joins us for a one-year sabbatical.
13/07/16
The parasite team moves into its new, larger laboratory in the Benham building this week!!
08/07/16
Henry Lane receives a Fulbright Fellowship (see photo from ceremony) to visit the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, USA.
31/05/16
Colin MacLeod is interviewed on Dunedin TV avout his PhD research on parasitism and ocean acidification (click here for interview).
14/05/16
A member of our research group, Chris Niebuhr, receives his PhD degree at graduation. [see photo]
16/03/16
Manon Villa, a university student from France, joins us as an intern for three months.
09/02/16
Antoine Filion, a Masters student from Canada (University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières), visits our lab for the next three months.
12/12/15
Four members of our research group receive their degree at graduation: Sorrel (MSc), Amanda (PhD), Sarah (MSc) and Colin (PhD). [see photo]
08/12/15
Zac Tobias, a new MSc student from Oregon, USA, joins our research group.
16/11/15
Kate Heaphy joins us as a Summer Research Bursary student.
13/11/15
Chris Niebuhr wins the Vincent Award for best talk at the 2015 Zoology Postgraduate Student Symposium. [see photo]
31/08/15
Riku Rinnevalli, a university student from Finland, joins us as an intern for six months.
10/08/15
Olwyn Friesen, a new PhD student from Canada, joins our research group.
06/08/15
Miroslava Klimovičová, a PhD student from the University of Prešov in Slovakia, joins us for a three-month research visit.
06/07/15
Dr. Gerardo Pérez Ponce de León, of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, joins us for a one-year sabbatical.
1-3/07/15
Several current and former members of our research group attend the 2015 joint conference of the New Zealand and Australian Societies of Parasitology in Auckland. [see photo at a restaurant during the conference]
09/05/15
A member of our research group, Hannah Harland, receives her MSc degree at graduation. [see photo]
16/02/15
Scott Lawrence, a postdoc from Victoria University in Wellington, joins our group for a one-year project funded by an Otago Research Grant.
04/02/15
Pauline Guilloteau, a French Masters student from the European Erasmus Mundus programme, joins our research group for six months.
03/12/14
Our awesome new lab t-shirts have arrived! [see image on shirt]
1/12/14
Two members of the Parasite Lab have their images featured in the 2015 calendar of the Otago Centre for Electron Microscopy [see page proofs]
10/11/14
Dr. Alexander Hayward, of Stockholm University in Sweden, joins us for a two-month research visit.
04/11/14
A good couple of weeks for us: we are awarded a NZ$790,000 grant from the Marsden Fund to investigate division of labour in clonal trematode colonies from 2015 to 2018, and a NZ$48,655 Otago Research Grant to pursue work on bacterial endosymbionts of trematodes in 2015.
10/10/14
Chris Niebuhr wins the Anne Martin Award for best student presentation at the 2014 Wildlife Disease Association Australasian Section Conference, in ACT, Australia.
09/10/14
Fatima Jorge, a PhD student from the University of Porto (Portugal), re-joins our research group for her third visit and will stay until mid-2015. Welcome back, Fatima!
1/08/14
Henry Lane joins our research group as a new PhD student, while working part-time as an Aquatic Animal Health technician with the Ministry for Primary Industries.
5/05/14
Our upgraded and re-styled website goes live!
17/02/14
Sorrel O'Connell-Milne, a new Masters student from Otago, joins our research group.
17/02/14
Arnaud Joannes, a Masters student from the University of Poitiers (France), joins our research group for 6 months.
10/02/14
Fanny Maure, a postdoc from France/Canada funded by Fondation Fyssen, joins our group for a year (or longer!).
13/01/14
Jesse Watts joins us as a Research Assistant for the rest of the summer.
26/11/13
A podcast of the public lecture given by Robert on 23rd October is now available (click HERE). The lecture marked the award of the University of Otago's 2013 Distinguished Research Medal.
17/11/13
The Parasite Ecology blog gives Robert the Golden Cercariae Award (click here for story).
15/11/13
Sarah Mockett wins the Head of Department Prize for outstanding performance by a Zoology 4th-year student.
11/11/13
Aaron Lynch joins us as a Summer Research Bursary student.
08/08/13
Admire our group photo out on Otago Harbour! [see photo] (courtesy of University of Otago Magazine)
05/08/13
Johanna Hasse, a university student from Germany, joins us as an intern for two months.
26/07/13
The Parasite Lab survives a night of indoor soccer! [see photo]
04/06/13
Fatima Jorge, a PhD student from the University of Porto (Portugal), re-joins our research group for another six months. Welcome back, Fatima!
13/05/13
Tony Stumbo, a new PhD student from the USA, joins our research group.
15/04/13
Postdoctoral research fellow Isabel Blasco-Costa re-joins our research group, after spending the last year in the Czech Republic. Welcome back, Isa!
01/03/13
Hannah Harland, a new Masters student from Otago, joins our research group.
03/01/13
Professor Arik Diamant, of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute in Eilat, joins us for a three-month sabbatical visit.
17/12/12
Tsukushi Kamiya wins the Ecology Trust Fund Award for top performance by a student in 4th Year Ecology.
13/12/12
Ana Born Torrijos, a PhD student from the University of Valencia (Spain), joins our research group for 2-3 months.
30/11/12
Three members of our research group, Clément, Tsukushi and Robert, complete their month-long participation in Movember, a moustache-growing effort to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer and other men's health issues. [see photo]
19/11/12
Boris Berkhout, a university student from the Netherlands, joins us as an intern for eight months.
12/11/12
Chris Lam joins us as a Summer Research Bursary student.
30/10/12
Sarah Mockett, a new Masters student from Otago, and Chris Niebuhr, a new PhD student from the USA, join our research group.
24-25/10/12
Eight members of our research group attend the 2012 conference of the New Zealand Society of Parasitology in Blenheim. [see photo taken at the conference dinner]
05/10/12
A good day for us: we are awarded a NZ$60,201 Otago Research Grant to pursue work on cryptic parasite diversity in marine systems in 2013.
13/08/12
Our work of the past 15 years on parasitism of intertidal animals (mostly research by Fred Thomas and Kim Mouritsen) has been captured in a short animated film by Fiona Grundmann, made for an assignment in the SCOM 419 course on Critical and Creative Thinking, part of the Masters in Science Communication at Otago University. Watch the video here.
03/08/12
Julia Nuy, a university student from Germany, joins us as an intern for two and a half months.
11/07/12
The Parasite Lab goes tenpin bowling! [see photo]
05/05/12
An ex-member of our research group, Cally Hammond-Tooke, receives her BSc Honours degree at graduation. [see photo]
06/04/12
Clément Lagrue, a former PhD student from our lab, returns from France and rejoins us as a research fellow on a three-year contract funded via a Marsden grant. Welcome back, Clément!
08/03/12
Three members of our lab, Anja Studer, Colin MacLeod and Robert Poulin, are featured on the New Zealand Radio's Our changing world program, talking about the potential impact of climatic and environmental changes on marine parasitic diseases. Listen to the podcast:
02/03/12
Fatima Jorge, a PhD student from the University of Porto (Portugal), joins our research group for six months.
13/02/12
This semester, we are joined by an international group of short/long term volunteers and interns helping us with our research. In order of arrival, they are Michel Widmann (France), Iain Phillips (Canada), Shannon Smith (USA), and Toby Landeryou (UK).
30/01/12
Katie O'Dwyer, a new PhD student from Ireland, joins our research group.
23/01/12
Rose Ruiz Daniels, a Masters student from the European Erasmus Mundus programme, joins our research group for a few months.
19/12/11
Anson Koehler wins the 2011 Fairlea Prize for the best paper published in a peer-reviewed journal by a Zoology MSc or PhD student.
17/12/11
Two members of our research group, Anja Studer [see photo] and Anson Koehler (in absentia) receive their PhD at graduation
25/11/11
Sabrina Hock wins award for the best poster at the 22nd Zoology Postgraduate Symposium.
11/11/11
Cally Hammond-Tooke wins the Marion Fyfe Prize for outstanding performance by a Zoology Honours student.
07/11/11
Tsukushi Kamiya joins us as a Summer Research Bursary student, and will stay with us next year to carry out his Honours research project.
27-28/10/11
Seven members of our research group attend the 2011 conference of the New Zealand Society of Parasitology in Palmerston North. [see photo taken at the conference dinner]
07/10/11
Amanda Valois, a new PhD student from Canada, joins our research group.
05/10/11
A good day for us: we are awarded a NZ$830,000 grant from the Marsden Fund to investigate patterns of parasitism in lake food webs from 2012 to 2015, and a NZ$37,935 Otago Research Grant to pursue work on climate and disease risk in marine systems in 2012.
01/09/11
Congratulations to Haseeb Randhawa, who begins his new position as Teaching Fellow in Ecology! Fortunately for us, he will continue as an associate investigator in our research group.
01/07/11
Colin MacLeod, a new PhD student from Canada (and before that Scotland), joins our research group.
20/06/11
Allison Neal, a PhD student from the University of Vermont, USA, joins our research group for two months, funded via the NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes Programme.
04/06/11
Kristin Herrmann wins the prize for outstanding student oral presentation at the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists, in Anchorage, Alaska. Many current and former members of the lab attended the meeting. [see photo taken outside the Anchorage Museum on the night of the conference dinner]
07/05/11
Two long-serving members of our research group, Rachel Paterson and Kristin Herrmann, attend graduation to receive their PhD. [see photo]
30/03/11
Alice Martin, a graduate of Universite Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France), joins us as an intern for 3 months.
25/11/10
Harriet Thomas wins the award for Best Student Poster at the New Zealand Ecological Society Conference.
10/11/10
Fengyang Lei wins the Head of Department Prize for outstanding performance by a Zoology Honours student.
08/11/10
Sabrina Hock joins our research group as a Masters student, and Cally Hammond-Tooke joins us as a Summer Research Bursary student, and will stay with us next year to carry out her Honours research project.
05/11/10
Harriet Thomas and Rachel Paterson win awards for the two best posters at the 21st Zoology Postgraduate Symposium. [see photo]
08/09/10
Ana Carolina Lacerda, a PhD student from Universidade Estadual de Maringa, Brazil, joins our research group as a visiting fellow for four months.
24/08/10
Lea Kremer and Jasmin Nelles, two interns from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, join our research group for a few weeks.
15-20/08/10
Ten members of our research group attend the 12th International Congress of Parasitology in Melbourne, Australia. [see photo]
04/08/10
Carlos Rauque, a parasitologist from Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina, joins our research group as a visiting fellow for four months.
09/07/10
Anja Studer wins the President's merit prize for outstanding student oral presentation at the 50th Anniversary Conference of the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society.
16/06/10
Tommy Leung, the longest-serving member of our group, leaves us to take up a Lecturer position at the University of New England, NSW, Australia. We wish him the best!
04/05/10
An article on parasitism, featuring much research carried out by our group, appears in the May/June issue of the New Zealand Geographic magazine. The article is written by Claudia Babirat, who worked as a summer intern in our lab several years ago!
09/03/10
Isabel Blasco-Costa, a new Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow from Spain, joins our group for two years.
02/03/10
Professor Armand Kuris, of the University of California in Santa Barbara, joins us for a one-month visit as a University of Otago William Evans Visiting Fellow.
22/02/10
Emily Koppel, who just completed a Masters degree at the University of Minnesota, joins us as a research assistant for 3-4 months.
10/02/10
Jessica Dittmer, a Masters student from the European Erasmus Mundus programme, joins our research group for three months.
09/02/10
Melanie Lloyd, a new PhD student from the USA, joins our research group.
07/02/10
Mathieu Sicard, of the Universite de Poitiers in France, visits our research group for three weeks.
04/02/10
Sara Brant, of the University of New Mexico, visits our research group for a couple of days to tell us about her research on schistosome phylogenetics.
16/12/09
Rachel Paterson wins Best Student Presentation at the joint conference of the Australasian Section of the Wildlife Disease Association and the Wildlife Society of the New Zealand Veterinary Association.
06/07/09
Anya Gonchar, an intern from St. Petersburg, Russia, joins our research group for 3 months.
02/03/09
Two new Masters students, Melisa Joe and Harriet Thomas, join our research group.
22/02/09
Kristine Brueggemann, an intern from Germany, joins our research group for six weeks.
21/10/08
Robert Peoples, a new PhD student from the USA, and Amanda Bates, a new postdoctoral fellow from Canada, join our research group.
13/10/08
Professor Arne Skorping, of the University of Bergen, Norway, joins us for a six-month sabbatical.
23/06/08
Johan Ramsayer, an intern from France, joins our research group for the next ten months.
18/06/08
Devon Keeney, who gets full credit for introducing the use of molecular methods to our group, completes his postdoc and goes on to an Assistant Professor position at Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY (USA). We wish you all the best, Devon!
20/05/08
Anson Koehler, a new PhD student from the USA, joins our research group.
05/05/08
Anja Studer, a new PhD student from Switzerland, joins our research group.
18/03/08
Parasitology group makes the headlines: Haseeb Randhawa and other members of the lab
go to a shark fishing competition to obtain shark parasites! [see article in Otago Daily Times]
06/03/08
Yuri Springer, a new postdoctoral fellow from the USA, joins our research group.
01/02/08
Kim Bryan-Walker, who has been working with us as a Research Assistant for almost 18 months, leaves the lab today to begin the Conservation Corps training course run by NZ's Department of Conservation. Her dedication and good humour will be missed by all!
20/01/08
Members of the parasite group show off their new lab t-shirts! [see photo]
29/11/07
Kerstin Geiss, a student from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, joins us for a few weeks as part of a collaborative project on infections of New Zealand eels by the swimbladder nematode Anguillicola.
02/11/07
Tommy Leung wins 'Best Talk' at the 18th Zoology Postgraduate Symposium for his presentation on the genetic diversity of trematode infections in cockles.
03/10/07
Our 'new look' website is launched!
01/10/07
Julie Hopper, from the USA, joins the group as a short-term research assistant.
19/09/07
Kristin Herrmann, a new PhD student from the USA, and Haseeb Randhawa, a new postdoctoral fellow from Canada, join our research group.
14/09/07
Clément Lagrue wins 'Best Poster' from the Division of Sciences at the 2007 University of Otago Postgraduate Student Symposium, for his work on trematode-induced alterations in snail phenotype. This is the second year in a row that Clément wins this award!
10/09/07
Lynne Warren, a senior staff writer from the National Geographic magazine, visits the group for one week as part of her research for a feature article on parasitism.
06/09/07
Principal Investigators Robert Poulin and Devon Keeney are awarded a NZ$774,000 grant from the Marsden Fund to investigate the evolutionary constraints on host specificity from 2008 to 2011.