Ash Jones

Currently I am a research officer within Benjamin Schwessinger and Justin Borevitz laboratories in the Research School of Biology at the Australian National University. My primary focus is DNA sequencing using long-read technologies from Oxford Nanopore for genome assemblies and investigating population genetics. My work spans across 14 genera from plants, fungi, insects and novel hybrids. My work has wide applications in global food security, elucidating pathogen infection, re-forestation efforts and understanding speciation.

My scientific experience started at the University of Newcastle, receiving first class honours and the university medal while researching aquaporins. Afterwards, I completed my PhD at the Australian National University (2017), which investigated the role of long non-coding RNAs in the epigenetic regulation of seed development and inter-genus hybrid formation. This was a collaborative effort with CSIRO as part of a Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF). The project also led me to the University of Adelaide for my bioinformatic research for multiple years.