Professor Sandie Degnan
Professor

Sandie Degnan

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 334 69005

Background

Evolutionary and ecological genomics of marine invertebrate animals.

My lab's research is driven by a fascination with genomes that carry within them endless, brilliant solutions forged by evolution over millions of years in response to a constantly changing ocean. We tap into this to learn how the genomes of coral reef invertebrates and their bacterial symbionts interact with each other, and with the environment, throughout their life cycle. We study these gene-environment interactions in evolutionary and ecological contexts, using genomic, molecular and cellular approaches combined with behavioural ecology in natural populations.

We work often with embryonic and larval life history stages of indirect developers, as these stages are crucial to the maintenance and evolution of marine populations. Our current focus is around larval settlement and metamorphosis in the holobiont of the coral reef demosponge Amphimedon queenslandica. In recent years, our work has extended to functional genomic approaches to identify noval ways to control the coral reef pest, the Crown-of-Thorns starfish.

When not immersed in the molecular or computer lab, we are lucky enough to be immersed in the ocean, often in beautiful places!

Availability

Professor Sandie Degnan is:
Not available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Animal cell and molecular biology Animal developmental and reproductive biology Animal immunology Behavioural ecology Bioinformatics and computational biology Biological Sciences Biological adaptation Developmental genetics (incl. sex determination) Ecology Evolution of developmental systems Gene expression (incl. microarray and other genome-wide approaches) Genetic immunology Genetics Genetics not elsewhere classified Genomics Invertebrate biology Life histories Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) Microbial ecology Microbiology Molecular evolution Phylogeny and comparative analysis Zoology

Search Professor Sandie Degnan’s works on UQ eSpace

101 works between 1992 and 2025
All (101) Journal Article (85) Other Outputs (1) Conference Publication (8) Book Chapter (7)

101 - 101 of 101 works

1992

Journal Article

Phylogeography of mitochondrial DNA of two species of white-eye in Australia

Degnan, Sandie M. and Moritz, Craig (1992). Phylogeography of mitochondrial DNA of two species of white-eye in Australia. Auk, 109 (4), 800-811.

Phylogeography of mitochondrial DNA of two species of white-eye in Australia

Current funding

  • 2023 - 2026
    Origin and evolution of animal-bacterial symbiosis
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2026
    Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Innovation Program
    Great Barrier Reef Foundation
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2021 - 2024
    Evolution of environmental regulation of cell states in animal life cycles
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2024
    New Tools for Advancing Model Systems in Aquatic Symbiosis: Establishing marine sponges as models for evolutionary, ecological and mechanistic aspects of animal-bacterial symbiosis
    Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2023
    Marine sponge-microbe interactions and the origin of animal innate immunity
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    Biocontrol of crown-of-thorns starfish using genomics and proteomics
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018
    Advanced imaging with wide spectrum molecular, quantitative and morphological applications in biological research
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    Continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer (CF-IRMS) and ancillary preparation systems for carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope microanalysis for archaeology, biology, earth and environmental scie
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2021
    How do sponges and bacteria together maintain productivity on coral reefs?
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2015
    Beyond genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes: high throughput analysis of gene and protein expression and function
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2012
    Science on the continental shelf: Securing our deep-sea biodiversity for the future
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2014
    Genomic tools for the emerging tropical rock lobster aquaculture industry
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2013
    Larval dispersal and settlement mechanisms in the first genome-enabled Australian marine animal, Amphimedon queenslandica (Porifera)
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2011
    Tooling-up non-model organisms in the post-genomic era: equipment for the analysis of molecular and cellular processes in animals of evolutionary and commercial interest
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2009
    Building Capacity in Quantitative Genomics
    UQ School/Centre Co-Funding
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2013
    The essence of being an animal: sponge allorecognition and the evolution of individuality
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2008
    Heron Island Research Station Connectivity Upgrade
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2007 - 2011
    Deep Downunder: designing a deep-sea exploration and discovery capability for Australia
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2007 - 2008
    CSIRO Flagship - Gonad development and sex differentiation in the abalone
    CSIRO Flagships Collaboration Fund
    Open grant
  • 2006 - 2009
    Aquaculture of the tropical abalone: identifying and selecting for factors promoting high settlement, survival and growth
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2007
    Variation in larval gene expression in a marine invertebrate: implications for population divergence via differential settlement response
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 1995 - 1997
    Genetic and phenotypic consequences of colonisation of oceanic islands by silvereyes
    ARC Australian Research Council (Large grants)
    Open grant
  • 1995
    Phylogenetic status and population structure of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina: a preliminary molecular analysis
    University of Queensland New Staff Research Grant
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Sandie Degnan is:
Not available for supervision

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Professor Sandie Degnan directly for media enquiries about:

  • ecological genetics
  • marine genomics
  • marine invertebrates
  • marine larval biology
  • marine molecular ecology

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