Joanna Stojak

The genomes of organisms harbour information about the different evolutionary histories of species and how they responded to events occurring in the past. Dr Stojak is interested in analyzing how climate changes influenced the evolutionary history of different species, how it could change species' ranges, and how past climatic conditions and/or humans affected biodiversity, both in the past and present. The distribution of species, their genetic groups or lineages, post-glacial re-colonization and the identification of glacial refugia are also extremely interesting to her. During her PhD project she was working on the phylogeography and genetic diversity of small mammal species, especially the Eurasian common vole and field vole, and how the Carpathian refugium influenced their evolutionary histories (on the basis of museum and modern samples). She is highly experienced in laboratory procedures applying different molecular markers (DNA microsatellites, mitochondrial cytochrome b and control region sequences, SNPs, complete mitogenomes, amplicon analysis and libraries preparation). Another scope of her study is DNA barcoding of forensically important beetle species, significant in post-mortem interval estimation. Additionally, dr. Stojak conducts research in the field of epidemiology, analyzing interactions between reservoir host species (rodents) and pathogens that cause serious zoonoses in humans (for instance Lyme disease, hantavirus infections).