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Norwegian Biodiversity & Genomics Conference 2023

Velkommen til nettsiden for Norwegian Biodiversity & Genomics Conference 2023! Konferansen ble arrangert av EBP-Nor, ERGA, G-BiKE og InvertOmics, og den ble holdt fra 8. til 10. februar.

Mange takk til alle 120 deltakere fra 31 institutter i Norge og Europa!

Banner with yellow background and blue text reading "Norwegian Biodiversity & Genomics Conference 2023, Feb. 8-10th, 2023, Oslo" and a green phylogenetic tree with leaves

Click here for abstract, keynote, & meeting info

Timeplan for konferansen (se detaljert program her)
Date	Wednesday February 8th (Day 1)		Thursday February 9th (Day 2)	Friday February 10th (Day 3)
Event	Genetic Diversity Monitoring Workshop. Workshop organized by COST Action CA18134 - Genomic BIodiversity Knowledge for Resilient Ecosystems "G-BIKE”	Genome assembly, curation and validation	Conference day theme: Invertebrates & vertebrates	Conference day theme: Fungi, protists, plants, and more
Location	Tøyen Hovedgård, Natural History Museum	Lids Hus, Natural History Museum	Gamle Festsal, Domus Academica, University of Oslo	Gamle Festsal, Domus Academica, University of Oslo
8:30	Registration	Registration	Registration	Registration
9:00	Introduction (15 mins); Keynote: Dr. Linda Laikre, Stockholm University (45 mins); Keynote: Dr. Joachim Mergeay, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (45 mins)	Instructors: Dr. Ole K. Tørresen & Benedicte Garmann-Johnsen	Welcome (5 mins); Session chair: Benedicte Garmann-Johnsen; Keynote: Dr. Mark Blaxter, Sanger Institute (45 mins + 10 min Q&A)	Session chair: Dr. Helle Baalsrud (5 mins); Keynote: Dr. Inger Skrede, University of Oslo (45 mins + 10 min Q&A)
10:00			Contributed talks	Contributed talks
10:45	Break		Break	Break
11:00	Keynote: Dr. Sunniva Aagaard, Norwegian Environment Agency (45 mins); Keynote: Dr. Anders Nielsen, Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research (45 mins)		Contributed talks	Contributed talks
11:00			Contributed talks	Contributed talks
12:00			Lunch	Lunch
12:30	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
13:00	Lunch	Lunch	Session chair: Dr. José Cerca (5 mins); Keynote: Dr. Astrid Böhne, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (45 mins + 10 min Q&A)	Session chair: Dr. Thomas Marcussen (5 mins); Keynote: Dr. Paul Kersey, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (45 mins + 10 min Q&A)
13:30	Keynote: Dr. Cristiano Vernesi, Chair of COST action CA18134 G-BiKE, Forest Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre - Fondazione Edmund Mach (30 mins)	Workshop continues
14:00	Plenary discussion: Why is genetic monitoring needed and how can it be implemented in a Norwegian context?		Contributed talks	Contributed talks
14:00			Break	Break
15:00			Contributed talks	Contributed talks
15:30	Conclusion/wrapping up		Contributed talks	Contributed talks
16:00	Free entrance to the Natural History Museum and Botanical Gardens (valid during entire conference)		Break (1600-1615)	Break (1600-1615)
16:00			1615: European Reference Genome Atlas Norway (ERGA-Norway) (open to all)	Earth BioGenome Project Norway (EBP-Nor) Meeting (closed event)
17:00	Dinner break		Travel to dinner together, social event/dinner (1800-2300)
18:00	Dinner break
19:00	Public lecture at Klimahuset: Dr. Mikkel Sinding, University of Copenhagen (in Danish)
20:00

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Mark Blaxter, Sanger Institute

Programme Lead for Tree of Life Programme and Senior Group Leader

Feb. 9th, 0900

Title: New biology from chromosomally complete genomes at the Tree of Life

Dr. Astrid Böhne, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig

Head of Section Comparative Genomics

Feb. 9th, 1300

Title: A tour of genomics in biodiversity research

Dr. Inger Skrede, University of Oslo

Associate Professor, Fungal Comparative Genomics

Feb. 10th, 0900

Title: Mating, divergence and speciation in wood decay fungi

Dr. Paul Kersey, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew

Deputy Director of Science - Research

Feb. 10th, 1300

Title: Natural history collections in the digital age

Public lecture

Dr. Mikkel Sinding, University of Copenhagen

Independent Research Fund Denmark Postdoctoral Fellow

Feb. 8th, 1900, Klimahuset, Natural History Museum Oslo

Title: Polarulvens fætter? De Arktiske hundes oprindelse og evolution (på Dansk)

A portrait photo of a person with short brown hair and a grey t-shirt.

Genetic Diversity Monitoring Workshop

While conservation genetics is a well-established discipline, surprisingly little attention is given to the importance of preserving genetic diversity in biodiversity policy and nature management. During this workshop, our international speakers will explain the status of genetic diversity indicators in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and introduce you to the fine art of genetic monitoring. Next, our national speakers will zoom in on current nature conservation policy/management principles and challenges in Norway. After lunch, we will discuss why and when genetic monitoring is needed, and how can it be implemented in a Norwegian context.

February 8th @0830-1600, Tøyen Hovedgård, Natural History Museum Oslo

Workshop organized by COST Action CA18134 - Genomic BIodiversity Knowledge for Resilient Ecosystems "G-BIKE”

Main organizers: G-BiKE Norway - Joost Raeymaekers (joost.raeymaekers@nord.no; Nord University) & Alexander Kopatz (alexander.kopatz@nina.no; Norwegian Institute for Nature Research)

Invited speakers:

Dr. Linda Laikre, Stockholm University

Dr. Joachim Mergeay, Research Institute for Nature and Forest, KU Leuven

Dr. Anders Nielsen, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO)

Dr. Sunniva Aagaard, Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektorat)

Genome Assembly & Annotation Workshop

The advent of such projects as Earth Biogenome Project (EBP) and European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA), and our own Earth Biogenome Project Norway (EBP-Nor) is partly due to the fact that creating high-quality chromosome-level genome assemblies for almost any species is currently possible. However, sequencing technologies are still not at the point where chromosomes are reconstructed from end-to-end without gaps, so the use of Hi-C to scaffold contigs made from long reads is essential. Validation and statistics are important parts of the assembly process. For instance, the input reads can be used to assess the heterozygosity of the sample, in addition to giving genome size and ploidy estimations. In different stages of the assembly process, investigating the presence of expected genes and comparisons of kmer profiles of the assembly to the reads, can be used to assess the quality of the assembly. In addition to the target species, contaminants/symbionts/cobionts can sometimes occur, and sequences from these need to be identified and separated. After scaffolding and removing possible contaminants, the genome assembly needs to be manually curated, a process that can fix assembly errors and improve the assembly overall. In this workshop we will touch upon these matters and discuss the tools often used to do these analyses.

February 8th @0830-1600, Lids Hus, Natural History Museum Oslo

Main organizers: EBP-Nor - Ole K. Tørresen(olekto@uio.no; University of Oslo) & Benedicte Garmann-Johnsen (benedga@uio.no; University of Oslo)

Support

This event is funded by UiO:Life Science and the Research Council of Norway projects Earth BioGenome Project Norway (EBP-Nor) and InvertOmics. The Genetic Diversity Monitoring Workshop is supported by the EU COST Action G-BiKE. Additional support is provided by ERGA-Norway, Digital Life Norway, and Elixir Norway.