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About the hotspot  Georgia is situated in the heart of the Caucasus, where wetlands, lakes, forests, and rocky slopes support numerous endemic and threatened species. Climate change is already reshaping these ecosystems, making locally grounded monitoring and conservation urgent. Yet Georgia remains a genomic blind spot: many species on the national IUCN Red List still lack DNA barcodes and reference genomes, limiting evidence-based management and adaptation planning. Did you know? Georgia lies within the Greater Black Sea ecoregion (a WWF “priority place”) and overlaps two global biodiversity hotspots recognised by Conservation International: the Caucasus and Iran–Anatolian hotspots. About the activity In June 2024, the GEORBLITZ team ran two citizen-science BioBlitzes to kick-start biodiversity recording and genomics awareness: Lisi Lake (Tbilisi, 8 June) and the Kutaisi Botanical Garden (14 June). Local community members teamed up with experts and students from Ilia State University (ISU) for hands-on sessions. Participants practiced standard field methods, net sweeping, foliage beating, hand collection, and worked in three taxon-focused groups (Diptera, Coleoptera, and Amphibia/Reptilia). Specimens were labelled in ethanol for observation, with material set aside for future genetic analyses. They were examined under microscopes under guidance from specialists. On-site educational stands with preserved and live specimens sparked conversations about how DNA barcodes and reference genomes inform species assessment, conservation, and restoration. Photo Gallery: Some of the species spotted during the GEORBLITZ activities. Field observations spanned reptiles (e.g., dice snake, spur-thighed tortoise), amphibians (marsh frog, green toad), arthropods (house centipede, Alpiscorpius  scorpions), birds (from reed warblers and swifts to orioles and jays), and even mammals (Caucasian squirrel), underscoring the conservation value of urban-adjacent green spaces. The initiative also reached a wider audience through Georgian national TV, which reported live from the Lisi Lake event. Explore observations / contribute: Lisi Lake iNaturalist project:   https://inaturalist.ca/projects/bioblitz-lisi-lake-2024 Kutaisi Botanical Garden iNaturalist project:  https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bioblitz-kutaisi-botanic-garden-2024 Media: Live TV report (Lisi Lake):   https://www.facebook.com/share/v/TVwW31FwVNcjS71R/?mibextid=SphRi8 Photo credits:  School of Natural Sciences and Medicine, Ilia State University; Giorgi Iankoshvili. This initiative was funded through Biodiversity Genomics Europe ( BGE ), a project funded by the European Union's Horizon Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Framework Programme:

In this month’s episode of Genomic Connections , Kasia and Christian chat with Brent Emerson and José Melo-Ferreira about the many applications of genomic data and how their work brings genomic data into action to solve real-world problems.  Brent Emerson  leads the Research Group on Ecology and Evolution on Islands, an initiative within the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology and the Spanish National Research Council in Tenerife ( IPNA CSIC ). His team uses genetic and genomic tools to understand what structures diversity. The community led by Brent focuses on the use of DNA barcodes to characterise species assemblages at scale and the genetic connectivity among species across different ecosystems. José Melo-Ferreira  is the Leader of the Genomics of Evolutionary Change research group at CIBIO-BIOPOLIS , based at CIBIO-InBIO, the Research Centre on Biodiversity and Genetic Resources of Portugal, where he is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Porto. His team uses genomic tools to understand fundamental evolutionary processes in different species. José is particularly interested in using genomics for the conservation and management of biodiversity and to understand the impact of anthropogenic change on the adaptive potential of species. 🎧 You can listen to Genomic Connections on Spotify and PocketCast . You can listen to Genomic Connections on Spotify  and PocketCast . Check out this recent Connections post in which we further discuss the applications of biodiversity genomics. 🔔 Follow the Genomic Connections Podcast on Spotify to make sure you never miss an episode! https://open.spotify.com/show/01aF7AUVF0PvydbxZADTvN?si=PFC5G62gRtCE2D14esbWnQ Do you have any suggestions about how we can improve the podcast or biodiversity genomic-related topics you would like us to cover? Send us a message! media@erga-biodiversity.eu

Last Friday, December 5th, the ERGA Sampling & Sample Processing Committee  hosted its very first Taxon Sampling SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) “Hackathon”. Following an open invitation to the entire ERGA community, more than 80 people registered to join the event. Participants split into subgroups according to their taxonomic expertise and worked together to advance taxon-specific instructions to sample biological material for genome sequencing. ERGA’s Sampling SOPs include guidelines for the collection, documentation, vouchering, preservation, and shipping of samples for genomic research. SOPs for 17 different taxa across the tree of life are currently being developed, many of which were initiated during the Hackathon: Fungi Bryophytes Woody plants Herbaceous plants Aquatic plants  Microalgae from cultures Salmonids Freshwater fish Amphibians Carnivorous mammals Lepidoptera Coleoptera Diptera Terrestrial arthropods Ectoparasites — mites, fleas, lice Porifera Terrestrial invertebrates Would you like to join one of the SOP working groups or start a new group for a taxonomic group not yet covered? Get in touch with the SSP Committee via samples@erga-biodiversity.eu ! The development of these SOPs is greatly facilitated by the ERGA SSP Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Template, which has been carefully developed by the committee over the past months. This template offers a standardized structure for the SOPs, provides important background information, and outlines the key sections each document should include. The groups will continue their collaborative work, and all new SOPs will be made available early next year in an open-access repository. We would like to thank everyone who joined the Hackathon, and especially the SSP team, for organizing this very productive event!

Text by Didier Aurelle, Université de Toulon, CNRS The yellow gorgonian ( Eunicella cavolini ) is one of the most widespread octocoral species found in the Mediterranean sea. As with other Anthozoans (the groups of cnidarians including hard corals, black corals, sea anemons and gorgonians), it is an ecosystem engineer, contributing to the habitats of various species. Eunicella cavolini is listed as Near Threatened in the the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is impacted among others by climate change and fishing activities. In the area of Marseille this species is present at different depths and near pollution sources.  Eunicella cavolini  is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List . Photo by  F. Zuberer. Research has shown that there is a possibility of hybridisation between E. cavolini  and E. singularis.  As E. singularis  hosts symbiotic algae (Symbiodiniaceae), this hybridisation questions the evolution of symbiosis. This makes the yellow gorgonian a fascinating model species to study genomic evolution at the interplay between speciation, adaptation to anthropic pressures and symbiotic interactions .  Underwater sampling in action:  A researcher collects the specimen used to generate the reference genome. Photos by F. Zuberer. Thanks to the ERGA community and the Biodiversity Genomics Europe Project, a high-quality reference genome of E. cavolini is now available, with a length around 500 Mb (1/6 of human genome) and 17 chromosomes (click here  to read the genome report). We will work on understanding how this species can thrive near sewage outfalls or ancient industrial remnants, in the vicinity of Marseille. The results will also be useful to question the past and future evolution of Mediterranean octocorals facing climate change. Read the peer-reviewed genome report of Eunicella cavolini (Aurelle et al., 2025): https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/5-323 . Click here  to learn more about ERGA’s standardized genome reports. This project involves collaborations with CIIMAR (Jean-Baptiste Ledoux), MNHN-ISYEB (Sarah Samadi), IFREMER (Stéphane Sartoretto), OSU-Pythéas (Dorian Guillemain & Frédéric Zuberer) and IMBE (Alex Baumel & Vinciane Mossion). Learn more about the species and genome applications in this short flash talk by Didier Aurelle: Yellow gorgonian (Eunicella cavolini) - Didier Aurelle References: Aurelle, D., Guillemain, D., Zuberer, F., Malengros, D., Böhne, A., Monteiro, R., ... & Bortoluzzi, C. (2025). ERGA-BGE reference genome of Eunicella cavolini, an IUCN Near Threatened Gorgonian of the Mediterranean Sea. Open Research Europe, 5, 323. Kipson, S., Cerrano, C., Terrón-Sigler, A., Linares, C.L. & Ozalp, B. 2015. Eunicella cavolini (Mediterranean assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T50012182A50606230. Accessed on 05 December 2025.

We are thrilled to announce the election of three new officers to the ERGA Executive Board ! Tyler Alioto, Kay Lucek, and Stefaniya Kamenova have been appointed as Scientific, Partnership, and Dissemination Officers, respectively. Tyler, Kay and Stefaniya have been active members of our community, demonstrating commitment and strong engagement across various ERGA committees. Their participation on the Executive Board will bring valuable new perspectives — we wish them great success in their new roles! This marks the fourth iteration of ERGA Executive Board elections, now a well-established process. The procedure was followed closely by the ERGA Council, in accordance with the guidelines established by the ERGA Governance Document .  The process also received crucial oversight from the Nominations Working Group and support from the Elections Supporting Team (Christian de Guttry, Diego de Panis and João Pimenta). The ERGA Executive Board includes a total of nine representatives with different roles. We thank the outgoing officers Rosa Fernández, Elena Bužan, and Chiara Bortoluzzi for their outstanding work and contributions during their time on the Executive Board! Learn more about these three officer roles: Partnership Officer Builds and steers collaborations with infrastructures, initiatives, and agencies; aligns joint work plans; supervises MoUs/data-sharing; co-develops multi-partner proposals; connects National Nodes with external partners. Dissemination Officer Ensures ERGA outputs are FAIR and visible; coordinates publications, datasets/DOIs, licences, and metadata; works with Comms, website/newsletter/social channels; supports GoaT alignment and cross-committee showcases. Scientific Officer Leads scientific direction and harmonisation; maintains roadmap from sampling to analysis; oversees SOPs, benchmarking, and compliance (open data, licences, ABS/Nagoya); coordinates across SSP, SAC, DAC, and ITIC.

The European Reference Genome Atlas ( ERGA ) and the European node of the International Barcode of Life ( iBOL Europe ), two international communities of scientists brought together under the Biodiversity Genomics Europe  Project, are joining forces for “Connections,” a series of blog posts that explore the fascinating world of Biodiversity Genomics  and the intersection of their communities. If you have been following our Connections series so far, you have learned that barcodes help us recognise which “book” of life we are holding, while reference genomes let us read every page. Today, we follow those pages out of the lab into the places where decisions are made. Biodiversity genomics has matured from proof-of-concept to a toolkit that can inform, for example, monitoring, species risk assessment, and management, and even market rules, by turning reads and assemblies into actions that matter for species, habitats, and the people depending on them. The impact pathway usually begins with identification and baselines. DNA barcodes establish who is where. This matters when regulators need quick and reliable evidence to tighten protection for a declining bird population in a wetland. Or when managers must separate look-alike pest species in aquaculture, or when coastal engineers test whether a beach-nourishment scheme is compatible with an endemic fish. Reference genomes deepen the story. They reveal how a species works, what its population structure is, connectivity, and adaptive variation. All clues that tell us if a population can, for instance, cope with heatwaves, if a corridor is worth restoring, and which individuals should contribute to an ex-situ programme. In other words, barcodes inform us of their presence, and genomes explain how they function. Consider fisheries and seafood safety. Genomics applied to widely fished pelagic species can clarify stock boundaries, helping fish stock management plans align with biology rather than old assumptions. At the same time, genomics in commercially harvested clams can support contamination assessment risks more precisely, so that consumer guidance and coastal policies rest on data rather than speculations. In both cases, genomics can improve sustainability and trust: what gets caught, what gets sold, what gets eaten, and what the sea can afford to give. Public health is another frontier where decisions move at the speed of evidence. Genomics of mosquito complexes that transmit West Nile virus allows us to identify cryptic lineages and chemosensory genes tied to behaviour, turning a confusing species complex into a map for outbreak monitoring programmes. From these insights, SNP panels for routine surveillance, early detection of resistance to control measures, and area-specific interventions mandated by regional authorities can be designed. On land, genomics can inform connectivity, reintroduction, and hybridisation policies. For example, in a rare Central European small mammal, its genomic structure showed how a modern drainage canal severed gene flow. The management recommendation is to restore corridors before populations slip past recovery. Alpine chamois and butterflies reveal country-level patterns of diversity and endemism. These data now feed directly into status reviews and legally binding conservation lists. In lowland wetlands, a long-distance migratory passerine with low diversity but ongoing gene flow gains a genetic monitoring plan that guides translocation choices and post-release tracking. Where climate change pushes related hare species into contact, genomic portraits of introgression help hunting and wildlife agencies adjust seasons and safeguards to protect vulnerable mountain lineages. Plants illustrate the same arc from data to decision. Herbs harvested from the wild, dune shrubs that stabilise coasts, and aromatic species adapting to new climates all benefit from genome-enabled surveys that distinguish clonal spread from sexual reproduction, estimate contemporary effective size, and pinpoint variants tied to heat and frost. These findings shape seed-sourcing, habitat management, and Europe-wide genetic monitoring comparable across borders, museums, and herbaria. What ties these stories together is not a single technology, but a way of working. Barcodes and genomes are generated in collaboration with end-users, including park services, fishery bodies, health authorities, farmers, and NGOs. Data are paired with training, screening tools, and communication adapted to local contexts. This results in a lasting impact that takes many forms, from field measurements to management plans, from genome browsers to policy briefs, and from classroom demonstrations to community-run surveys. The book metaphor keeps us honest. Barcodes still tell us which titles we are holding, and reference genomes still let us read every page. But conservation impact starts when we file that book in the right library. We share it with the people who need it and use it to guide choices about land, water, and livelihoods. Biodiversity genomics is now doing exactly that, moving from pages to policies, with benefits that go far beyond the lab bench.

At this month's ERGA Plenary meeting , on Monday, November 17 at 15:00 CET , Joana Paupério and Alexey Sokolov will present about Biodiversity Reference Genomes at ENA (European Nucleotide Archive) and the ERGA Data Portal . Check more information below. Abstract Reference Genomes produced under the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) are being publicly shared through the European Nucleotide Archive ( ENA ) and are accessible through the ERGA Data Portal . The ENA is the European node of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) that also includes the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ). These sequence repositories support the archiving of this reference data and collaborate with the community providing resources for the management, sharing and dissemination of data to promote re-use. Here we will present the reference genome data structure at ENA and the service developments to support genomes open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data sharing. These include the development of metadata standards with the community for reporting enriched source information and setting up the data structure for increased accessibility and interoperability. Enhancements have also been made to support the upscaling of submissions to ENA, considering the diversity of taxa and genome characteristics. A new model for handling annotation is being developed at the ENA, decoupling annotations from genome records themselves. Cross references to other data types and search services were improved to facilitate reference genome findability and access, with rich metadata to support the uptake in biodiversity research. The ERGA Data Portal (https://portal.erga-biodiversity.eu) provides a single open-access platform ensuring FAIR access to all genome data generated by ERGA. It integrates data and metadata from major international repositories—BioSamples, ENA, Ensembl, BioImage Archive, and Wellcome Open Research—together with cross-references to GoaT, TolQC, and the NBN Atlas. Automated pipelines built with Apache Airflow and Apache Beam continuously harmonise and update the integrated dataset around each unique species taxon. The web portal, built with Angular and FastAPI, offers intuitive search and filtering tools, species-level detail pages, status tracking, and a publications browser. Programmatic access is available through an open API, enabling integration with external tools such as Ensembl dashboards, Jupyter notebooks, and institutional analysis workflows. Analytical and visual layers, powered by BigQuery and Python Dash, provide interactive phylogenetic, geospatial, and metadata dashboards for data exploration. Together, these components create a sustainable and extensible infrastructure supporting ERGA’s mission to deliver high-quality genomic resources for European biodiversity and to promote open, data-driven research and conservation. Speakers Joana Paupério is a Biodiversity Project Manager at the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA, EMBL-EBI), where she is responsible for biodiversity data coordination. She works with the community, understands their needs, and supports data structuring and submission to the sequence archives. She is involved in a number of projects and initiatives working towards FAIR biodiversity genomics data and infrastructure linking. Joana is also co-lead of the ELIXIR Biodiversity Community. Alexey Sokolov is a project lead at EBI, where he is responsible for building scalable, FAIR-compliant data platforms for life-science research. He has contributed to the development of modern genomic data portals and cloud-based analytics ecosystems supporting large international consortia. His work centres on transforming complex, heterogeneous biological data into accessible, well-structured resources that enable researchers to generate new scientific insights. 🔔 To receive the Zoom link and join this and our upcoming plenary meetings, register as an ERGA member . ▶️ You can watch all previous ERGA Plenary talks here . If you would like to suggest a speaker or topic for a future plenary session, please contact us at training@erga-biodiversity.eu . We welcome your input!

The ERGA Sampling & Sample Processing Committee invites everyone to join the online Taxon Sampling SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) "Hackathon" on Fri 5th December, 10:00-12:00 CET – we'll work in groups to advance on taxon-specific instructions to sample, process and ship the raw material for genome sequencing. Please contact samples@erga-biodiversity.eu for the Zoom link to join in! 🔗 Add this event to your calendar!

The last few days of October marked the realization of a much-anticipated event: the Genomics for Biodiversity Conference , organized by   BGE and ERGA. Hosted by the BIOPOLIS/CIBIO Association  near Porto, Portugal, the conference was streamed live to a global audience, bringing together around 70 in-person participants and a similar number of remote attendees. In-person attendees, including most of the BGE case studies representatives. The conference marked the conclusion of BGE’s “ Genome Applications ” work package and had the goal to demonstrate the many different ways genomic science is being used to help address real-world issues, such as biodiversity conservation and the development of the bioeconomy. Importantly, the goal was to showcase genomic-informed actions that are already having an impact, rather than the potential applications of the data. The main highlight of the conference was the series of talks presenting projects (case studies) that have received support from BGE. In total, 27 case study leaders presented their results, outlined the methods used to achieve these results, discussed the relevance of their genomics insights in the policy context and described their efforts to share the newly generated knowledge with relevant stakeholders. The presentations sparked many interesting conversations that went beyond the scientific approach used by each project, addressing other important matters such as genomic outreach and how to best convert the results into actionable knowledge.  The programme also included an exciting line-up of four Keynote talks addressing the links between biodiversity genomics, policy, and society. You can (re)watch the keynote talks here . On the final day of the conference, parallel sessions and open discussions focused on the engagement of stakeholders in biodiversity genomics research and how the BGE case studies are influencing European conservation and bioeconomy policies. The closing session brought together speakers from the wider biodiversity genomics community, who presented their work in engaging 5-minute flash talks — an opportunity to explore the landscape of research beyond the BGE project and Europe. Overall, the conference was a lively event and offered a great opportunity for networking and strengthening connections between members of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) Community. As the BGE Case Studies come to a close, stay tuned — many exciting publications and other outputs are on the way! Photo gallery

An aquatic warbler from the currently restored West Pomerania. Genetic monitoring will reveal whether it is offspring of translocated individuals or an unrelated immigrant. Photo: Justyna Kubacka The ERGA-BGE case study led by Dr Justyna Kubacka of Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, is drawing to an end. You can read about the project here . In a nutshell, the study relied upon available DNA extracts to carry out whole-genome re-sequencing of – ultimately – 60 individuals of the aquatic warbler. This small brown songbird is a threatened habitat specialist breeding in central-European fens, a vanishing wetland habitat. The aquatic warbler went through a steep decline – especially within the past 150-200 years – caused by destruction of its breeding sites. Aquatic warblers were sampled in two geographical populations with hardly any breeding habitat in between. The first one was the Biebrza Valley, located in north-eastern Poland, a stable, large and well-connected population. It was sampled in 1997 and 2018, enabling temporal comparisons. The second one, located about 600 km westwards as the crow flies, was West Pomerania in Poland, a moderate-sized, isolated and steeply declining population. There, samples were obtained in 1999, allowing spatial analysis. With the whole-genome sequences at hand, thanks to ERGA-BGE funding, and supported by colleagues Dr Wiktor Kuśmirek and Dr Krystyna Nadachowska-Brzyska, Dr Kubacka set out to evaluate inbreeding, effective population size and genetic bottlenecks, as well as population structure between the two distant populations. Importantly, the team relied on the recently published, high-quality chromosome-level reference genome of the aquatic warbler. The project focused on two populations of aquatic warbler: Biebrza Valley marshes and Western Pomerania. Photos by Justyna Kubacka and Knyva. Results paint a worrisome picture. Genomic diversity was low in both populations and compared to that found in some passerines endemic to islands. The only good news was that no temporal trend was detected in Biebrza. The low diversity could compromise the ability of the aquatic warbler to adapt to changing conditions, such as increasing drought, emergence of new diseases or lowered abundance of preferred arthropod prey on the marsh, all of which are expected under global warming. This is concerning especially because – unlike in many other birds – it is only female aquatic warblers that incubate eggs and feed young. With this pattern of parental care, raising young successfully under environmental change could present a challenge. Hence, depleted adaptive potential could compromise population growth more in the aquatic warbler than in species in which both parents raise their offspring. The team then looked at inbreeding rates with a powerful tool, runs of homozygosity (ROHs) – stretches within a genome that originate from one ancestor. This kind of inbreeding results not only through mating of closely related individuals, but also when a population is small and so more strongly affected by genetic drift (random loss of genetic diversity) compared to a large population. Long ROHs (above 1 million base pairs) are indicative of inbreeding within the recent 10-50 generations (20-100 years in the aquatic warbler) and form a strong proxy of extinction risk. The pattern of long ROHs showed increased inbreeding in West Pomerania, compared to Biebrza, and no temporal shift in the latter. This means that over the 20-100 years before sampling, West Pomerania had faced enhanced genetic drift and accelerated loss of genomic diversity. On top of this, average relatedness between individuals was clearly elevated in this population, relative to Biebrza. Genomic diversity was similar across all the studied populations. However, this amount of genomic variation is shown by endemic island passerines with small populations. Recent inbreeding - identified with long runs of homozygosity (ROHs) was elevated in West Pomerania, indicating enhanced genetic drift in the last 20-100 years before sampling. Aquatic warblers from West Pomerania were more interrelated than the Biebrza birds, pointing to lack of immigration and low population size in the former. With the dense genomic data, the team was also able to do detective work and track back historical changes in effective population size. This parameter shows how strong the work of genetic drift is, which depends mostly on population size. The results were consistent with the decline in numbers and showed a recent genetic bottleneck around the industrial era in the mid-1800s, when wetland destruction accelerated. This result was especially clear for the Biebrza samples. For West Pomerania, the effective population size was much lower over the examined period than in Biebrza. A picture of a founding event, followed by expansion in the mid-1800s and then a steep drop was revealed. Therefore, genomic diversity of West Pomerania could have been depleted at least twice.   Historical changes in effective population size revealed a clear genetic bottleneck in Biebrza around the industrial revolution, when wetland degradation accelerated. In West Pomerania, effective population size has been lower and genomic diversity appears to have gone through a bottleneck twice. Finally, the team checked whether the two populations bear signs of genetic divergence. Results indicated only very week genetic differentiation and no clear evidence for two separate genetic populations. Apparently, either insufficient time has passed for genetic change to accumulate between West Pomerania and Biebrza, or some weak connectivity had been maintained. Nevertheless, it was too little to stop genomic erosion in West Pomerania. While the analysis relied on historical samples, it brings an important insight for present day conservation efforts. A large-scale translocation project is being carried out to restore the nearly lost West Pomerania population. The results of the ERGA-BGE project indicate that genetic drift and inbreeding could have contributed to its swift decline. To restore this population through translocation while avoiding the genomic history repeating itself, it is crucial to improve the breeding habitat and extend its area. It is also fundamental to enlarge or create stepping-stone habitats between West Pomerania and the nearest large and stable populations, to restore gene exchange. The work could not have been performed without the collectors, Prof. Andrzej Dyrcz, Dr Benedikt Giessing, Dr Jarosław Krogulec and Grzegorz Kiljan. For a quarter of century, the samples were curated by Prof. Michael Wink at the Heidelberg University and by Dr Martin Päckert at the Senckenberg Natural History Collections in Dresden, Germany. The project received funding from the European Union under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, co-funded by the Swiss Government and the British Government. The bioinformatic analysis was conducted with the support of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling at the University of Warsaw, Poland (ICM UW). About the Author Dr Justyna Kubacka is an evolutionary ecologist and ornithologist and is constantly gaining skills in population genomics. She works at the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. She belongs to the aquatic warbler genome team of the ERGA Pilot reference genome project. In her free time, she loves doing cross-country skiing and gardening.

In this month's episode of the Genomic Connections  podcast, Kasia and Christian talk with Rutger Vos and Diego de Panis about their experiences in bioinformatics and the central role this relatively new discipline plays in transforming vast amounts of data into biological insights.  Rutger is a bioinformatician and head of the Data Competence Center at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden, Netherlands). Diego is a biologist based at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Berlin, Germany) with 10+ years of data-driven research experience assembling sequences and connecting genes with phenotypes and biological processes. This episode comes in a different format than usual: it was screenplayed and produced as a video interview, rather than as a podcast. You can watch the video here , and listen to the audio-only version here . 🎧 You can listen to Genomic Connections on Spotify and PocketCast . You can listen to Genomic Connections on Spotify  and PocketCast . Check out this recent Connections post in which we discuss "What is bioinformatics?" 🔔 Follow the Genomic Connections Podcast on Spotify to make sure you never miss an episode! https://open.spotify.com/show/01aF7AUVF0PvydbxZADTvN?si=PFC5G62gRtCE2D14esbWnQ Do you have any suggestions about how we can improve the podcast or biodiversity genomic-related topics you would like us to cover? Send us a message! media@erga-biodiversity.eu