Professor Luisa Orsini MRSB

• 2020 - Member of the Royal Society of Biology 
• 2020 - Founder of EnviSion, Environmental BioSequencing and BioComputing, UoB Enterprise
• 2020 - Emerging Leaders Programme Certificate (leadership style and management)
• 2019 - Medici Enterprise Training Certificate (business, IP and spin-out)
• 2018 – Academic College Lead for Enabling Technologies Sequencing Platforms
• 2017 - Master: Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PCAP)
• 2017 - Director of the Environmental Omics Sequencing Facility (now EnviSion), University of Birmingham Enterprise
• 2016 - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK
• 2003 - PhD, University of Messina/Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn Naples, Italy
• 1999 - Master in Environmental Science, Istituto Universitario Navale, Naples, Italy

• 2022 - Professor of Evolutionary Systems Biology and Environmental Omics
• 2021 - Co-founder, CEO and Executive Director of Daphne Water Solutions Ltd
• 2020 - Founder and CTO of EnviSion, Environmental BioSequencing and BioComputing, UoB Enterprise
• 2019-2021 - Alan Turing Fellow
• 2018-present - Associate Professor in BioSystems and Environmental Change, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
• 2013-2018 - Assistant Professor in BioSystems and Environmental Change, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham.
• 2012-2013 - Senior research fellow (postdoc), Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, University of Leuven, Belgium (Fellowship by the Belgian research council, FWO)
• 2011-2012 - Visiting scientist, Centre of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Indiana University Bloomington, IN, USA (Fellowship by the by the Belgian research council, FWO)
• 2008-2011 - Research fellow (postdoc), Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, University of Leuven, Belgium (Fellowship by the by the Belgian research council, FWO)
• 2004-2008 - Research fellow (postdoc), Metapopulation Research Group, University of Helsinki, Finland (Fellowship by the Finnish Cultural Foundation)
• 2003-2004 - Research fellow (postdoc), University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria (EU grant)

Module leader in 'Toxicology for the 21st century' (Master in Toxicology). The module provides cutting-edge high throughput toxicology training to increase employability.

Lecturing in Adaptation to changing environments.

Tutor for Year1, Year2, Year3 and Master students.

Postdocs

• 2021-2023: Dr Anurag Anurag Chaturvedi: Bioinformatics working on evolutionary genomics. Independent Marie Curie Fellow
• 2021-2022: Dr Narges Habibi: Computational Biology working on Environment and Human Health: Monitoring and Prevention Using AI 
• 2020-2021: Dr Iestyn Staed: Engineer working on RAEng/Innovate UK project to commercialize Daphne Water Solutions
• 2019-2020: Dr Rafael Orozco, Chemical Engineer working on a BBSRC funded grant to assess the market value of upconverted biowaste generated via the biological treatment of wastewater by Daphnia. He has several years of experience in industry having established and sold for profit his own company in
• 2017-ongoing: Dr Vignesh Dhandapani, Bioinformatician working on deCODE (Cracking the Code of Adaptive Evolution using biological archives)
• 2018-2020: Dr Romain Derelle, Bioinformatician working on LOFRESH (Understanding the ecological relevance of eDNA in freshwater lotic ecosystems)
• 2017-2020: Dr Jiarui Zhou, Computer scientist specialized in AI working on deCODE (Cracking the Code of Adaptive Evolution using biological archives)
• 2017-2019: Dr Timothy Williams, ecotoxicologist working on deCODE (Cracking the Code of Adaptive Evolution using biological archives) 

PhD students

• 2022-2026: Florian Gigl Goete University Frankfurt, Germany
• 2022-2026: Abbakar Umar: self-funded PhD student by the Petroleum Technology Development Funds, Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2022-2026: Arron Walsh NERC CENTA iCASE University of Birmingham, UK
• 2022-2026: Nooshin Barzegar Marvasti; BBSRC MIBTP iCASE University of Birmingham, UK2019- 
• 2023: Niamh Eastwood: BBSRC MIBTP2019 PhD student, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2019 -2022: Muhammad Abdullahi; self-funded PhD student by the Petroleum Technology Development Funds, Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2019-2022: Giulia Bellisai; Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK.
• 2016-2019: Hollie Marshall; University of Leicester/University of Birmingham, UK
• 2015-2019: Rosemary Barnett; Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2014-2018: Maria Cuenca Cambronero, Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2010-2016: Katina Spanier Biology, University of Leuven, Belgium
• 2009-2015: Aurora Geerts; University of Leuven, Belgium.
• 2010-2013: Daniela D' Esposito; The Open University
• 2005-2009: Helena Wirta Koivuletho; Biology, University of Helsinki, Finland. 

Master students

• 2021: Alice Jones Msc Biosciences; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2021: Garry Gabayno Msc Biosciences; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2021: Wenqui Jiang Msc Bioinformatics; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2021: Rebecca Ball Msc Biosciences; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2021: Chukwubike Nneoma June Katia MSci; Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2021: Parnell Christopher MSci; Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2020: Donglu Gu; Msc Biosciences; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2020: Zhifan Wu Msc Bioinformatics; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2020: Kai Brown MSci; Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2020: Thomas Hornsby MSci; Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2018: Troy Kemmish MSci; Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2018: Padma Ananthan; MSci Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK.
• 2017: Niamh Eastwood; MRes Biosciences; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2017: Adad Iqbal MSci Microbiology and Infection; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2017: Simeon Petersen; MSci Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2017: Muideen Adeyinka; MSci Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2016: Lisa King; MRes Biosciences; University of Leister, UK
• 2016: Simon Lee; MSci Toxicology; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2015: Peter Osborne; MRes Biosciences; University of Birmingham, UK
• 2014: Hollie Marshal; MRes Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2001:  Alberto Amato, Master in Biology; Stazione Zoological A. Dohrn, Naples, Italy. 

Visiting scientists

• 2019-2013: visiting PhD (6) and undergraduates (15) from various universities in the UK and oversea working in biotechnologies, bioinformatics ad evolutionary biology.

PhD title

Integrated approach to the study of diversity in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia (Bacillariophyceae): morphology, life cycles and molecular tools

My research develops around two complementary themes: Biodiversity & Environmental Pollution and Mechanisms of Adaptation & Environmental Change. The former discovers correlations between environmental pollution drivers and changes in biodiversity affecting ecosystem services, whereas the latter investigates the mechanisms underpinning loss of biodiversity driven by environmental change. I list below the research projects that feed into these two complementary research themes.

• Cracking the Code of Adaptive Evolution using biological archives
• Forecasting adaptive responses to future global change
• Understanding the ecological relevance of eDNA in freshwater lotic ecosystems
• Mechanisms and processes underpinning long term evolution
• The biology of dormancy
• Metabolic changes and abiotic stress
• Microbiome-mediated responses to environmental stress
• Biodiversity and ecosystem services in a changing world
• Sustainable technologies for water reclamation and waste valorisation

Website: Home | luisaorsini 

ResearchGate profile: www.researchgate.net/profile/Luisa-Orsini

The Alan Turning Insitute: Luisa Orsini | The Alan Turing Institute

Participation in International Conferences

70 international conferences attended: 14 keynote lectures, 19 invited seminars, 31 talks and 14 posters.

Keynote addresses are listed:

1. European Society or Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) 2022, keynote for the Symposium Resurrection ecology as a tool for the study of rapid evolution, Czech Republic, on 14-19 August 2022.
2. Artificial Intelligence UK 22^nd March 2022, organised by The Alan Turing Institute, UK 
3. Eco-Evolutionary dynamics conference. 2^nd of January 2021, Southampton, UK
4. 20^th Congress of the Iberian Association of Limnology (AIL-2021) and III Ibero-American Congress of Limnology (CIL-2020). 27^th-29^th October, 2020, Murcia, Spain
5. 13th Annual Arthropod Genomics Symposium, June 12-14, 2019, Kansas city, State University, USA
6. The evolutionary time machine unravels the mechanisms of contemporary evolution. Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) 2019, Contemporary Evolution symposium. 21-25 July, 2019, Manchester, UK 
7. Back to the future with the evolutionary time machine. World Water Day: water for all, 22^nd of March 2019, Birmingham, UK
8. The role of genome structural variation on plastic and constitutive phenotypic divergence in multifarious environments. Symposium ‘The role of genomic structural variants in adaptation and diversification’, ESEB2018, II Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology - Montpellier, France.
9. Tales of a living fossil: from evolution to past environmental stress to persistence to future global change. 2^nd Finnish Molecular Ecology and Evolution conference,  12-14 October 2016; Lammi Biological Station, University of Helsinki, Finland
10. A revolutionary way to reconstruct evolutionary dynamics in nature over centuries.  The International Biogeography Society, Bayreuth, Germany, 8-12 January 2015
11. A revolutionary way to reconstruct evolutionary dynamics in nature over centuries. Prodiversa symposium: workshop on population genetics and intraspecific diversity of aquatic protists 27-28 August 2014, Tjarno, Sweden
12. The past is the key to the future: developing a paleogenomic approach to link population dynamics to environmental change. The mighty daphnia, past present and future. DGC 2014 Birmingham, UK 19-22 January 2014
13. Environmental PALEO-genomics: using dormant propagules to FORECAST how natural populations can adapt to environmental change. Adapting to Global Change in the Mediterranean conference, 18-20 September, 2013 Seville
14. How to live in a mosaic of stressors – an ecological genomics approach on the water flea Daphnia. SETAC North America 31st Annual Meeting. 7-11 November 2010. Portland, Oregon, USA.

Invited talks

1. Environment and Human Health: Monitoring and Prevention Using AI. Turing at Birmingham Day. 15^th October, 2019
2. Reflections on COP26. University of Birmingham. 17^th November 2021
3. National Forum for Reuse Learning Hub, Water Research Commission, South Africa. 24^th November 2021
4. Research and social event for graduate researchers in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Birmingham – Sustainability. 11^th May 2022

Invited seminars

1. Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, 8^th June, 2022
2. Centre for Computational Biology, Birmingham, 9^th March 2022
3. Newcastle University, UK, 16^th February 2022
4. UK Environment Agency, 2^nd December 2021
5. KULeuven, Belgium, 10^th September, 2021
6. Queen Mary University London, 5^th November, 2020
7. Goethe University Frankfur, Germany, 9^th June 2020
8. Bochum University, Ruhr- University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. December 17^th, 2019.
9. Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, UK April 3^rd, 2019.
10. The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, California USA. December 6^th 2018.
11. University of Lund, Denmark. February 22^nd 2018
12. University of Leicester. March 22^nd 2017
13. University of Helsinki, Finland.11^th October 2016
14. Hull University, UK. March 11^th 2016
15. University of Goteborg, Sweden. September 24^th 2015
16. Natural History Museum London, UK. June 26^th 2015
17. Eawag, Switzerland. April 14^th 2011
18. University of Sheffield, UK. March 31^st, 2011.
19. University of Parma, Italy. May 19^th, 2010.
20. Stazione Zoologica ‘A. Dohrn’, Naples, Italy. September 11^th 2006  

Invited Lecture/Lecture Series

1. Genetics and genomics in ecology: concepts and applications Master class in evolutionary Ecology, University of Leuven, Belgium. 25^th-26^th May 2011
2. Approaches and molecular tools to study adaptation in natural populations. University of Cologne, Germany. 31^st May-1^st June, 2011.
3. Bottom-up to top-down approaches to study selection, adaptation and evolution. PhD course. University of Parma, Italy. 18^th May 2010.
4. PhD course in Population genetics and Phylogeny in Marine systems. Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy. 5^th-8^th October, 2009.
5. The use of Molecular markers in ecology and evolution. Lecture within the undergraduate course in Biology, University of Leuven, Belgium.22^nd April 2009 
6. Molecular ecology: the study of ecology and evolution with molecular markers. Master class in Biology, University of Leuven, Belgium. 27^th  April 2009 
7. Graduate course in Conservation Biology in Fragmented Landscapes. Inbreeding in captive and wild populations: case studies and implication for conservation, University of Helsinki, Finland. 6^th-23^rd November 2006.
8. Molecular markers and their application in molecular ecology. In: Molecular Ecology. University of Helsinki, Finland. 3^rd November 2006.
9. The use of genetic markers in population genetics. Lecture and laboratory practice, University of Helsinki, Finland. 15^th September 2006
10. Microsatellite evolution. University of Helsinki, Finland, 11^th November 2005.
11. Cloning course. Cloning tool: How, why, to address what questions. University of Helsinki, Finland. 25^th - 27^th January 2005
12. Graduate course in Conservation Biology in Fragmented Landscapes. Population genetics in fragmented landscapes. University of Helsinki, Finland. 14^th October 2004
13. Lecture within the PhD program of the Open University. Microsatellites: a powerful tool to infer phylogeny, phylogeography and population structure. Stazione Zoologica ‘A. Dohrn’, Naples, Italy, 20^th May 2004 

Citizenship

1. Associate Editor of BMC Ecology and Evolution, Springer Nature
2. Editorial Advisory Board Environmental DNA, Wiley
3. Guest Editor of the 2021 Collection on Applications of Environmental DNA and RNA Technology in Ecology BMC Ecology and Evolution, Springer Nature
4. Guest Editor of the special issue on Evolutionary Ecological genomics, Molecular Ecology Wiley
5. Expert grant evaluator for the EU commission, Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC) UK, Natural Environment Natural Environment research Council (NERC) UK, National Science Foundation (NSF) USA, Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Portugal.
6. Reviewer for Molecular, Ecology, Global Change Biology, Heredity, Journal of Animal Biology, Ecotoxicology among others.
7. Member of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB)
8. Member of the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE)
9. Member of the Royal Society of Biology
10. Selection committee member for recruitment of professorial level applicants for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (Switzerland), Catholic University Leuven (Belgium), Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal

Outreach activities-societal impact

As academics, it is our responsibility to communicate more broadly, especially to the public. With the majority of research being funded by the government through the tax-paying public, I believe it is crucial to tackle these goals and help connect science and society. I use social media platforms, such as twitter and LinkedIn to disseminate research. In addition, I am frequently approached by journalists and science communicators for outreach activities. I make sure to include my PDRA and PhD students in these dissemination events to provide them with the learning experience in science communication. To date, I have accumulated a portfolio of science communication and dissemination through different platforms: audiobooks, science podcasts, outreach lectures and newspaper articles, radio and television interviews:

Audiobooks

1. January 2022 –Audiobook: Harnessing waterfleas to purify wastewater (SciPod)
2. February 2021 – Audiobook: Sublethal doses of Roundup negatively affect a nontarget invertebrate

Podcasts and interviews:

3. January 2022 – Hexis Plus TV; Nature’s water hero. Interview with Chris Jones on climate change and removal of dangerous chemicals from water. The technological solutions are suitable for deployment in the global south (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHl0La86zAA)

4. December 2021 - science podcast on the model species Daphnia and its role in the multimillion EU award Precision Toxicology (https://precisiontox.org/voxlab/)

5. November 2021- the Alan Turing Institute spotlights promoted the ‘Brilliant minds working at the Turing’ (https://www.turing.ac.uk/people/spotlights/luisa-orsini)

6. November 2021 - Interviewed at ITV evening news. 

7. October 2021 – Interviews by BBC WM Radio (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09ydqcf) (listen from 7.11am); BBC Radio 5-live (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_five_live) (listen from 6:09am); BBC Radio CWR (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_coventry_warwickshire) (listen from 7.50am); Radio Global; BBC Radio Cheshire (https://uk.radio.net/s/cheshiresoundsradio) (listen from 8.26) to increase awareness on Climate Change.

8.March 2019 – Interview for Women day ‘Inspiring women in science’

9. February 2019 - Interviewed for World Water Day-Water to increase awareness about water challenges https://youtu.be/A9gnFOGCSQ4.

10.  September 2018 - Scienza e Coscienza podcast on the mechanisms and consequence of species extinction

11.  February 2018 - Interview by Slightly Evolved, a weekly science podcast for science outreach.

12.  July 2017 - Interviewed by The Scientist (Claire Asher) for an expert commentary on the scientific publication: ‘Nine decades of environmental change resurrected from Swedish seas’.

13.  January 2014 – Interview by The New York Times (Carl Zimmer) for an expert commentary for the science article ‘Revived shrimp-like animal (Daphnia from North America) that have been buried at the bottom of the lake for an estimated 700 years’.

14.  March 2014 – Interview by The New York Times(Carl Zimmer) for an expert commentary on the scientific article ‘’ A moss bank dating back millennia on Signy Island off Antarctica that was revived to blossom in modern times’.

Public lectures

15.  November 2019 - TheStar Wars Research Event - “Birmingham Strikes Back” organized by the University of Birmingham. Title: Long-term evolution using Daphnia as a model species #birminghamstrikesback, UoB Facebook channel https://facebook.com/unibirmingham/); https://www.facebook.com/unibirmingham/videos/2507829439303910.

BBC documentary

1. 16.  June 2017, she contributed to the BBC documentary on Earth’s Greatest Spectacles in which conservation and the process of reviving dormant specimens was showcased: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0717vkv; http://bbc.in/1Tz3xyG

Newspapers and science magazines

17.  November 2021 – The Biodiversity Time Machine, a new framework for biodiversity science (multiple outlets): https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2021/11/biodiversity-time-machine-uses-artificial-intelligence-to-learn-from-the-past.aspx; https://www.turing.ac.uk/news/biodiversity-time-machine-uses-ai-learn-past; https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-environment/news/article/4954/biodiversity-time-machine-uses-ai-to-learn-from-the-past; https://thenewstack.io/ai-biodiversity-time-machine-could-decide-for-uncertain-future/; linked to the publication in Trends in Ecology and Evolution (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.09.008)

18.  July 2021 – Daphnia’s unique properties to study long-term evolution (multiple outlets) https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-07/uob-rei071221.php

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-rapid-evolution-waterfleas-yields-insights.html

https://scitechdaily.com/extraordinary-ability-of-animals-to-rapidly-evolve-in-response-to-predators-yields-new-conservation-insights/

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/07/14/britain-water-fleas-rapid-evolution/3421626287486/

19.  December 2020 - February 2021 –The impact of the widely used herbicide Roundup on aquatic life (multiple outlets) linked to the publication in Microbiome (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-020-00943-5). Pesticides News, issue 124 (https://issuu.com/pan-uk/docs/pesticide_news_124_-_february_2021?fr=sZGY4MjExOTMxNQ); The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2020/12/16/water-creature-bottom-food-chain-harmed-roundup-weedkiller-study/), the Courthouse News Service USA (https://www.courthousenews.com/dna-damage-found-in-keystone-species-exposed-to-roundup/), Nuevo Periodico (https://nuevoperiodico.com/la-exposicion-prolongada-al-rodeo-de-herbicidas-puede-causar-un-dano-significativo-a-especies-clave/); University of Birmingham press release highlights (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2020/12/new-research-highlights-impacts-of-weedkiller-on-wildlife.aspx). 

20.  August 2018 – How to use the past to understand responses to Climate change linked to the article published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.07.005). UK and Danish press releases (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2018/08/animals-and-plants-react-to-climate-change-study.aspx; https://www.science.ku.dk/english/press/news/2018/adapt-move-or-die-how-biodiversity-reacted-to-past-climate-change/) 

Expert panelist

21.  October 2017 - panel expert on Climate Change, Enactus Birmingham, an association thatcreates sustainable and empowering social enterprises, using entrepreneurial skills to improve the livelihoods of people in need.