Axel Barlow

I develop two major research themes:

- Evolutionary genomics of mammals. In particular I use palaeogenomics methods to study extinct species and ancient populations. Current study species include cave bears, mammoths, cave hyenas, brown bears, wolverines, big cats, etc.

- Conservation genomics. I use genomics methods to assess genetic health and make recommendations for conservation management. My current focus is on native UK species, including adders, grass snakes, common lizards, sand lizards, hedgehogs, etc.

Axel started his Bachelor degree in Zoology in 2004 at Bangor University in North Wales. For his Bachelor thesis project, he investigated venom evolution in saw-scaled vipers, which led to his first scientific publication in 2009. He then continued at Bangor to study an MSc in Ecology, and subsequently a NERC funded PhD investigating African viper phylogeography and phylogeny, under the supervision of Dr. Wolfgang Wuster. Following his PhD, Axel joined Prof. Michi Hofreiter's group as a postdoc on his ERC grant investigating geneflow in Pleistocene mammals in 2013. Here, Axel gathered new skills and knowledge in the fields of ancient DNA and population genomics, and developed his interest in the developing field of palaeogenomics. In 2019, Axel took up a lecturer position in Molecular Biosciences at Nottingham Trent University. Since January 2022, he is a lecturer in Zoology at Bangor University.