Contact Details
- Phone
- +64 3 479 7413
- neil.gemmell@otago.ac.nz
University Links
- Position
- Professor and Acting Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor
- Department
- Department of Anatomy
- Qualifications
- BSc(Hons) PhD
- Research summary
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics, molecular ecology, conservation biology
Research
Professor Gemmell holds the Chair for AgResearch Centre for Reproduction and Genomics
Professor Gemmell's research blends ecology, population, conservation and evolutionary biology with recent technological spin-offs from the various genome projects. A recurring theme in his research is that of reproduction, with past and current projects spanning mating systems and mate choice, sperm-egg interactions, sperm function, sex determination, sex allocation, and inter-sexual genomic conflict. Professor Gemmell also has interests in several congruent fields of research, particularly the evolution of the mitochondrial genome, the evolution of microsatellite DNA, the evolution of sex determining mechanisms and the processes that lead to speciation.
Research interests:
- Analysis of mating systems
- The implications of the asymmetric fitness effects of mtDNA mutations
- The evolution of microsatellites