Dr Catherine Collins

Contact Details
- Phone
- +64 3 470 4683
- catherine.collins@otago.ac.nz
University Links
- Position
- Lecturer
- Department
- Department of Anatomy
- Research summary
- Anthropological Genetics
Research
I apply ancient DNA techniques to study population origins and changes in human populations through time. My current research project applies ancient DNA and second generation sequencing techniques to investigate the genetics of the first New Zealanders.Publications
Zalloua, P., Elias, N., Senovska, A., Collins, C., Gosling, A., Karam, S., … Matisoo-Smith, E. (2023). Ancient DNA investigation of the 17 Maronite patriarchs of Qanubin. Journal of Cultural Heritage. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.culher.2022.12.006
Knapp, M., Collins, C. J., & Matisoo-Smith, E. (2021). Ancient invaders: How Paleogenetic tools help to identify and understand biological invasions of the past. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution & Systematics, 52, 111-129. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012021-100938
King, C. L., Buckley, H. R., Petchey, P., Roberts, P., Zech, J., Kinaston, R., Collins, C., Kardailsky, O., Matisoo-Smith, E., & Nowell, G. (2021). An isotopic and genetic study of multi-cultural colonial New Zealand. Journal of Archaeological Science, 128, 105337. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2021.105337
McDonald, S. K., Matisoo-Smith, E. A., Buckley, H. R., Walter, R. K., Aung, H. L., Collins, C. J., Cook, G. M., Kardailsky, O., Krause, K., & Knapp, M. (2020). 'TB or not TB': The conundrum of pre-European contact tuberculosis in the Pacific. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375, 20190583. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0583
Ferreira, S., Ashby, R., Jeunen, G.-J., Rutherford, K., Collins, C., Todd, E. V., & Gemmell, N. J. (2020). DNA from mollusc shell: A valuable and underutilised substrate for genetic analyses. PeerJ, 8, e9420. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9420
King, C. L., Buckley, H. R., Petchey, P., Roberts, P., Zech, J., Kinaston, R., Collins, C., Kardailsky, O., Matisoo-Smith, E., & Nowell, G. (2021). An isotopic and genetic study of multi-cultural colonial New Zealand. Journal of Archaeological Science, 128, 105337. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2021.105337
Journal - Research Article
Knapp, M., Collins, C. J., & Matisoo-Smith, E. (2021). Ancient invaders: How Paleogenetic tools help to identify and understand biological invasions of the past. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution & Systematics, 52, 111-129. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012021-100938
Journal - Research Article
Ferreira, S., Ashby, R., Jeunen, G.-J., Rutherford, K., Collins, C., Todd, E. V., & Gemmell, N. J. (2020). DNA from mollusc shell: A valuable and underutilised substrate for genetic analyses. PeerJ, 8, e9420. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9420
Journal - Research Article
Lord, E., Collins, C., deFrance, S., LeFebvre, M. J., Pigière, F., Eeckhout, P., … Matisoo-Smith, E. (2020). Ancient DNA of guinea pigs (Cavia spp.) indicates a probable new center of domestication and pathways of global distribution. Scientific Reports, 10, 8901. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-65784-6
Journal - Research Article
Greig, K., Gosling, A., Collins, C. J., Boocock, J., McDonald, K., Addison, D. J., … Higham, C. F. W., … Walter, R., & Matisoo-Smith, E. (2018). Complex history of dog (Canis familiaris) origins and translocations in the Pacific revealed by ancient mitogenomes. Scientific Reports, 8, 9130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-27363-8
Journal - Research Article
Lord, E., Collins, C., deFrance, S., LeFebvre, M. J., & Matisoo-Smith, E. (2018). Complete mitogenomes of ancient Caribbean Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 17, 678-688. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.12.004
Journal - Research Article
Matisoo-Smith, E., Gosling, A. L., Platt, D., Kardailsky, O., Prost, S., Cameron-Christie, S., Collins, C. J., … Zalloua, P. (2018). Ancient mitogenomes of Phoenicians from Sardinia and Lebanon: A story of settlement, integration, and female mobility. PLoS ONE, 13(1), e0190169. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190169
Journal - Research Article
Zalloua, P., Collins, C. J., Gosling, A., Biagini, S. A., Costa, B., Kardailsky, O., … Matisoo-Smith, E. (2018). Ancient DNA of Phoenician remains indicates discontinuity in the settlement history of Ibiza. Scientific Reports, 8, 17567. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35667-y
Journal - Research Article
Clark, A. L., King, C. L., Buckley, H. R., Collins, C. J., Dhavale, N., Elliott, G. E., Gosling, A., Halcrow, S. E., … Matisoo-Smith, E., … Tromp, M., Ward, S., & West, K. (2017). Biological anthropology in the indo-pacific region: New approaches to age-old questions. Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology, 41, 78-94.
Journal - Research Article
Collins, C. J., Chilvers, B. L., Osborne, A., Taylor, M., & Robertson, B. C. (2017). Unique and isolated: Population structure has implications for management of the endangered New Zealand sea lion. Conservation Genetics, 18(5), 1177-1189. doi: 10.1007/s10592-017-0969-z
Journal - Research Article
West, K., Collins, C., Kardailsky, O., Kahn, J., Hunt, T. L., Burley, D. V., & Matisoo-Smith, E. (2017). The Pacific rat race to Easter Island: Tracking the prehistoric dispersal of Rattus exulans using ancient mitochondrial genomes. Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution, 5, 52. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00052
Journal - Research Article
Collins, C. J., Chilvers, B. L., Taylor, M., & Robertson, B. C. (2016). Historical population size of the threatened New Zealand sea lion Phocarctos hookeri. Journal of Mammalogy, 97(2), 436-443. doi: 10.1093/jmammal/gyv187
Journal - Research Article
Rawlence, N. J., Collins, C. J., Anderson, C. N. K., Maxwell, J. J., Smith, I. W. G., Robertson, B. C., Knapp, M., Horsburgh, K. A., Stanton, J.-A. L., Scofield, R. P., … Matisoo-Smith, E. A., & Waters, J. M. (2016). Human-mediated extirpation of the unique Chatham Islands sea lion and implications for the conservation management of remaining New Zealand sea lion populations. Molecular Ecology, 25(16), 3950-3961. doi: 10.1111/mec.13726
Journal - Research Article
Yund, P. O., Collins, C., & Johnson, S. L. (2015). Evidence of a Native Northwest Atlantic COI haplotype clade in the cryptogenic colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri. Biological Bulletin, 228(3), 201-216.
Journal - Research Article
Collins, C. J., Rawlence, N. J., Prost, S., Anderson, C. N. K., Knapp, M., Scofield, R. P., Robertson, B. C., Smith, I., Matisoo-Smith, E. A., … Waters, J. M. (2014). Extinction and recolonization of coastal megafauna following human arrival in New Zealand. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 281, 20140097. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0097
Journal - Research Article
Collins, C. J., Rawlence, N. J., Worthy, T. H., Scofield, R. P., Tennyson, A. J. D., Smith, I., Knapp, M., & Waters, J. M. (2014). Pre-human New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) rookeries on mainland New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 44(1), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/03036758.2013.828761
Journal - Research Article
Rawlence, N. J., Till, C. E., Scofield, R. P., Tennyson, A. J. D., Collins, C. J., Lalas, C., … Matisoo-Smith, E., Waters, J. M., Spencer, H. G., & Kennedy, M. (2014). Strong phylogeographic structure in a sedentary seabird, the Stewart Island Shag (Leucocarbo chalconotus). PLoS ONE, 9(3), e90769. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090769
Journal - Research Article
Collins, C. J., Fraser, C. I., Ashcroft, A., & Waters, J. M. (2010). Asymmetric dispersal of southern bull-kelp (Durvillaea antarctica) adults in coastal New Zealand: Testing an oceanographic hypothesis. Molecular Ecology, 19(20), 4572-4580. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04842.x
Journal - Research Article
Zalloua, P., Elias, N., Senovska, A., Collins, C., Gosling, A., Karam, S., … Matisoo-Smith, E. (2023). Ancient DNA investigation of the 17 Maronite patriarchs of Qanubin. Journal of Cultural Heritage. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.culher.2022.12.006
Journal - Research Other
McDonald, S. K., Matisoo-Smith, E. A., Buckley, H. R., Walter, R. K., Aung, H. L., Collins, C. J., Cook, G. M., Kardailsky, O., Krause, K., & Knapp, M. (2020). 'TB or not TB': The conundrum of pre-European contact tuberculosis in the Pacific. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375, 20190583. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0583
Journal - Research Other