Victoria Pritchard

content

Senior Researcher in Genomics 

victoria.pritchard.ic@uhi.ac.uk  

I am an evolutionary biologist whose research examines genomic, morphological and behavioural divergence amongst populations, and the consequences of hybridization between those populations. My work provides direct insights into how the diversity of life arises. It also has practical applications to managing populations of conservation or economic concern. At IBFC, I lead research applying genetic and genomic tools to the conservation management of Scotland’s threatened species. 

  • Dosentti in Evolutionary Genetics, University of Turku, Finland 
  • PhD, ‘Behaviour and Morphology of the Zebrafish’, University of Leeds, UK 
  • B.Sc. Biology with Oceanography, University of Southampton, UK 

Research interests:

  • Evolutionary genomics 
  • Conservation genetics 
  • Causes and consequences of inter-population hybridization 

Research project highlights:

Supervision

External supervision 

  • Victoria Gillman (PhD, University of Aberdeen) 

Alumni students 

  • Shraveena Venkatesh (PhD)   
  • Antti Miettinen (PhD, University of Helsinki) 

Publications:

Zueva KJ, Lumme J, Veselov AE, Primmer CR, Pritchard VL. (2020) Population genomics reveals repeated signals of adaptive divergence in northeastern European Atlantic salmon. J. Evol. Biol 34, 866-878. 

Miettinen A., Palm S., Dannewitz J., Lind E, Primmer CR, Romakkaniemi A, Ostergren J, Pritchard VL. (2020) A large wild salmon stock shows genetic and life history differentiation within, but not between, rivers. Conserv Genet. 22, 35-51. 

Pritchard VL, Mäkinen H, Vähä JP, Erkinaro J, Orell P, Primmer CR (2018) Genomic signatures of fine‐scale local selection in Atlantic salmon suggest involvement of sexual maturation, energy homeostasis, and immune defence‐related genes. Mol. Ecol. 27, 2560-2575. 

Pritchard VL, Viitaniemi HM, McCairns RJS, Merilä J, Nikinmaa M, Primmer CR, Leder EH (2017) Regulatory architecture of gene expression variation in the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. G3 7, 165–178. 

Pritchard VL, Orell P, Kent MP, Lien S, Niemelä E, Erkinaro J, Primmer CR (2016) SNPs to discriminate different classes of hybrid between wild salmon and aquaculture escapees. Evol. Appl. 9, 1017-1031. 

External profile Consultancy