The McDougall Laboratory

Dr. Carmel McDougall (D.Phil) - Principal investigator

Carmel is a molecular biologist with an interest in functional, evolutionary and ecological genomics, particularly of marine invertebrates. Her primary research has been in the field of molluscan biomineralisation, with a focus on identifying the genes involved in controlling shell synthesis, understanding how these genes have evolved, and investigating how variation in these genetic factors leads to differences in shell (or pearl) properties. Carmel enjoys using comparative and functional genomics and experimental studies to provide practical outcomes for sustainable aquaculture and marine conservation, and to shed light on the evolution of the amazing repertoire of organisms found within our oceans. She also enjoys teaching on the topics of Zoology, Genetics, and Evolutionary Biology.

Carmel obtained her BSc (Hons) at the University of Queensland. Following this, she undertook her D.Phil at the University of Oxford (spending her final year at the University of St Andrews) in the UK, investigating the evolution and development of polychaete worms under the supervision of Dave Ferrier. Carmel’s postdoctoral work brought her back to UQ where, in Bernie Degnan’s laboratory, she applied genomic and bioinformatic techniques to improve the quality of the South Sea Pearl and undertook studies into the evolution of molluscan biomineralisation. In 2017 Carmel moved to Griffith University to establish her research laboratory. She initiated new collaborations with the rock oyster industry, using her Advance Queensland Fellowship to apply functional molecular approaches to challenges currently encountered during hatchery production and farming of these oysters. She is currently applying this knowledge to support various shellfish reef restoration projects.

In 2023 Carmel moved back to the University of St Andrews to continue to build her research group and explore new research directions.

Brett Bolte (Honours) - PhD Student

Brett is an American student who started his studies at the University of Tampa until he went on exchange at James Cook University where he then graduated with both his BSc in Marine Science and Honours in Marine Biology. Throughout his time at JCU Brett helped with several projects at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), specifically, assisting research understanding the life cycle of Acropora eating flatworms. It was during his honours project that he developed a passion for environmental DNA (eDNA). The topic of his thesis was the validation of eDNA as a method to detect the presence of deadly cubozoan jellyfish, where he developed species specific eDNA assays for four jellyfish species.

His PhD research will focus on exploiting filter feeding bivalves as a natural eDNA sampling medium to determine the presence of some of the most crucial pathogens, including algal and bacterial blooms and parasites (including amoeba), in the Tasmanian aquaculture industry. This research is poised to identify a natural and continuous method of sampling to prevent and monitor outbreaks of disease within aquaculture stock using one of the most common biofouling species. Brett’s PhD will be completed at CSIRO (Hobart, Tasmania) with funding from the Blue Economy CRC and Griffith University’s International Postgraduate Research Scholarship.

Julieta Gamboa Cutz (M.Sc) - PhD Student

Julieta finished her Masters degree in Marine Biology at The Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV-IPN Yucatan, Mexico). In the past two years, she has been working with organic carbon stocks and carbon sequestration in mangroves, which was the topic of her masters thesis. Her masters research was focused on measuring carbon stocks in conserved, restored, and degraded mangroves, including an evaluation of restoration techniques through carbon sequestration measurements.   

Her PhD focuses on identifying the microbial community related to the methane cycle in soil of coastal wetlands throughout a salinity gradient and its relation with physicochemical variables that influence the carbon cycle. She will also obtain quantitative data of methane activity in soil, identifying driving variables related to the carbon cycle. This research will be under the supervision of Dr Fernanda Adame and Dr Carmel McDougall.

Her research interests include: Wetlands management, restoration, carbon stocks, climate change, microbial communities, methanogen communities, methane activity.

Felix Hunter - Honours Student

Felix is a Scottish student currently in his final year of study at the University of St Andrews. He is a Marine Biology Honours undergraduate and is working with Dr Carmel McDougall on his dissertation topic. He will be working on the west coast of Scotland with oyster farmer Tom Ashton (NativeAqua) to conduct an investigation into the effects of oyster farms on biodiversity. He will use remote underwater video analysis as the primary method of investigating the biological effect of the oyster farm.

Felix’s interests include sustainability in marine aquaculture and the impact of artificial reefs in the North Sea

Nathan McIntyre (PHD) - Senior Research Assistant

Nathan graduated from Griffith University with a B.Sc. in Applied Biology and Wildlife Biology. He then undertook an Honours project at Griffith, comparing population genetic structure in two freshwater turtle species from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and received 1st Class Honours on completion. For his PhD research, Nathan undertook a population genomic study of Australian Magpies in southern Australia, under the supervision of Prof Jane Hughes and Dr Daniel Schmidt. The project inferred the demographic history of magpie populations from Restriction-site Associated DNA sequence (RADseq) data, and also included work on the effect of environmental conditions on breeding success in magpie territories, and historical species distribution modelling. Nathan is also involved in population genetic studies of various marine turtle species, as a research assistant to Dr Nancy FitzSimmons.

Within the McDougall lab Nathan is conducting research on the population genetics of Queensland blacklip rock oyster species.

Clarissa G. Molinari (M.Sc) - PHD Student

Clarissa completed a BSc in Biological Sciences (2016) and a MSc in Zoology (2019) at the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Her Bachelor’s monograph and Masters project focused on jellyfish taxonomy and systematics. Part of her Masters degree was done in partnership with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, in the USA. During her Masters, she developed a passion for molecular biology, which led her to work as a molecular laboratory technician for a year at the University of Sao Paulo, before she was granted a PhD scholarship.  

Clarissa is now a PhD candidate at Griffith University, under the supervision of Dr. Kylie Pitt and Dr. Carmel McDougall. The main goal of her project is to determine the response of multiple species of jellyfish to marine heatwaves using transcriptomic and gene expression analyses as tools to test those responses.  

Mollie Stefanek (B.Mar.Sci - HONOURS) - PHD student

Mollie graduated from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Marine Science, majoring in Marine Ecology, in 2020. Within this degree, she had the opportunity to complete a capstone project based on comparing freshwater macroinvertebrate traits with stream properties across southeast Queensland to help predict species’ vulnerabilities to environmental changes. 

Mollie then completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) with Dr Carmel McDougall at Griffith University and received 1st class honours. This project focused on the potential links between pigmentation and innate immunity of Sydney Rock Oysters in the Richmond River. This project included the exploration of genes that could be associated with immunity within molluscs. 

Mollie was awarded a University of St. Andrews School of Biology Scholarship and a Handsel Tuition fee Scholarship to complete her PhD in Scotland. She is fulfilling her PhD under the supervision of Dr Carmel McDougall and Dr Ido Bar. This study looks to investigate self-non-self-detection in oysters. It explores whether self-recognition occurs within these species and, if so, how genetically different the material needs to be to elicit a reaction. This study also searches for differing recognition levels throughout different tissue types, explores gene expression related to self-recognition and compares recognition responses with disease detection responses. The aim is to explore a little-known part of mollusc biology and build the base knowledge for further investigation into transmissible disease research in molluscs. 

Mollie’s interests include species survivorship, comparing species adaptations to environmental changes, marine invertebrates, and immunity genetics.

Ya Zhang (M.SC) - PHD student

Ya completed her B.Sc in aquaculture and M.Sc in marine science at Shanghai Ocean University (China). Her M.Sc research investigated the effect of nitric oxide on the metamorphosis and immunity of Mytilus coruscus (Mussel). Because of her passion for the aquaculture industry, she worked at a Shellfish culture company before starting her Ph.D.

 Her Ph.D. work mainly focuses on the prevention of maturation to improve the resilience and growth of the Australian greenlip abalone. She will revise and improve the method of producing triploid abalone, and further differentiate the molecular pathways related to maturation and growth. This will enable the development of intervention methods that impact gonadal maturation without producing negative growth outcomes. This research was will be under the supervision of Dr. Carmel McDougall, Dr. Ido Bar from Griffith University and Natasha Botwright from CSIRO Agriculture and Food.