| Academic Year | 2024-2025 |
| z.evans.24@abdn.ac.uk | |
| Institution | University of Aberdeen |
Biography
School: School of Geosciences
Pronouns: she/her
Name pronunciation: [ZAIR]- [UH], zɛ́ːrə, zeərə
Project: Analysing past biodiversity in North-eastern Scotland using DNA metabarcoding and metagenomics
Supervisors: Dr Linus Girdland Flink, Dr Gill Plunkett, Dr Tim Mighall & Dr Samantha Jones
Undergraduate Education: BA Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Canada
Postgraduate Education: MSc Archaeological Science, University of Oxford
Research: I will be analysing sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) from cores taken at lake catchment sites associated with archaeological human settlements. This DNA analysis will provide insights into biodiversity changes of wild and domestic fauna and flora across time and enable reconstruction of human land-use and long-term impact on native biodiversity. I will be testing and further developing novel methods for enriching metagenomic sequencing libraries based on adapted metabarcoding methods. Using new methods for targeted replication of sedaDNA plant and animal sequences, I hope to increase the recovery of authentic ancient DNA molecules. Additionally, I will do pollen analysis for a multi-proxy understanding of biodiversity changes over time as associated with past Scottish settlements.
Other:
- Publications:
- Evans, Z., Paskulin, L., Rahemtulla, F., Speller, C.F., 2023. A comparison of minimally-invasive sampling techniques for ZooMS analysis of bone artifacts. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 47, 103738.
- Wellman, H. P., Zhang, H., Yang, D. Y., Evans, Z. D., Miner, M., Speller, C. F., in press. Native American use of Cetaceans in pre-contact Oregon: Biomolecular and taphonomic analyses illuminate human-cetacean relationships. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology.
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