Lab Members

PI Dr Evelyn Jensen

Evelyn is a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Ecology in the School of Natural and Enviornmental Sciences at Newcastle University. She obtained her PhD in 2007 at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. She is a broadly trained biologist, with a keen intererst in all things DNA and wildlife. She teaches foundational genetics and evolution, field courses, and bioinformatics for conservation genetics.

Current Lab Members

Lorenz Dale Decena

Dale started his MPhil in January 2025. His project is to investigate the origins and genetic diversity of the feral/wild Cheviot goats of College Valley, Northumberland National Park, using population genomics analyses. The project has since expanded to include comparative analyses of other feral/wild populations believed to comprise of other British primitive goats across the UK, including areas such as Kielder, Isle of Rum, Mull, Kerrera, and even the Isle of Man.

Sarah Griffin

Sarah began her PhD in 2022, funded through the IAFRI DTP and co-supervised by Edward Haynes and Eleanor Jones from Fera Science. Her project is to develop molecular genomic and informatics tools to monitor outbreaks of a plant pathogenic nematode, Meloidogyne fallax, and an invasive hornet, Vespa velutina.

Sophie Harris

Sophie is a fourth year PhD student due to complete in September 2026. Sophie is part of the OnePlanet DTP working in partnership with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, where she is co-supervised by Hannah Robson and Mark Kincey at Newcastle University and Emma Hocking at Northumbria University. Sophie is using environmental DNA and stable isotopes to understand species change over time in British ponds. Aside from her PhD, she is also a c-permit bird ringer, and a volunteer with the RSPB working with seabirds.

Hannah Lloyd-Hartley

Hannah began her PhD in 2021, and is co-supervised by Jane Delany and Ben Wigham. Her project is analysing the Dove Time Series, a 60-year long dataset of regular plankton tows off the Northumberland coast. She is an expert at identifying plankton morphologically, and has expanded into using metabarcoding to modernize the time series.

Joshua Ollive

Joshua began his MRes Ecology in September 2025. His project focuses on designing species specific assays for the detection and identification of South American Felids, including Jaguar (Panthera onca) and Puma (Puma concolor). His work aims to produce a methodology which will quickly identify species using non-invasive DNA sampling techniques that can be deployed in the field using just a BentoLab.

Sampurna Roychoudhury

Sampurna started her PhD in September 2024, funded by the IAPETUS2 DTP, and co-supervised by Simon Maddock and Kathryn Elmer (University of Glasgow). For her project, she is using genomics to understand evolutionary processes behind the Galapagos giant tortoise radiation, as well as their present-day population genetics and connectivity.

Lab Group Pets

Cagney is a retired greyhound, living the good life, snoozing on Evelyn’s sofa since 2021.

Bucky is also a retired greyhound (although he didn’t have much of a career!). He has been snoozing on Evelyn’s sofa since 2025.

Past Lab Members

Abbie Affleck
Abbie completed her MRes in 2024, cosupervised by Theresa Reuger. In 2025 she started a PhD at the University of Stirling.
Alanna Connor
Alanna completed her MRes in 2023 investigating the population structure of tortoises on southern Isabela Island. In 2025 she started a PhD through the IDCORE – EPSRC Industrial CDT for Offshore Renewable Energy at the University of Edinburgh.
Dr Rachel Gray
Rachel completed her PhD in 2025. Her research focused on investigating hybridization as an evolutionary process in the Galapagos giant tortoises. In 2025 she started as a Research Assistant at the RZSS WildGenes lab.
Dr Johanna Weston
We were lucky to have Johanna as a postdoc for a short time in 2021, when she was instrumental in setting up our ancient DNA lab. In 2022 she moved to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Emma Williams
Emma completed her MRes in 2022, entitled “Determining the efficacy of a non-invasive sampling method for genetic analysis of blue sharks (Prionace glauca)”