Niccole Porras Alvarez
Doctoral student
Abteilung für Verhalten, Ökologie und Kultur des Menschen
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
Telefon: +49 (0) 341 3550 341
E-Mail:
niccole_porras_alvarez@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research Interest
I am interested in people's genetic and cultural diversity. Through my PhD research, under the supervision of Anne Kandler, Laurel Fogarty and Adam Powell, I aim to understand how demographic, cultural, and evolutionary processes have shaped past and present patterns of diversity within and between populations. I am currently focused on exploring the effects of migration on cultural and genetic diversity. Based on population genetics and cultural evolution theory expectations, I am building a model that aims to understand the population dynamics that lead to matches and mismatches in diversity patterns between cultural and genetic systems. I am a member of the TICE Lab.
Education
| 2021-Present | Ph.D. International Max Planck Research School "Leipzig School of Human Origins" Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture |
| 2019-2021 | Master Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology University of Groningen University of Uppsala |
| 2015-2019 | Bachelors Undergraduate Program in Genomic Sciences - Honorific Mention National Autonomous University of Mexico |
Research Experience
| Spring 2021 | Master thesis A: ‘A neural network model for cultural evolution’ Supervisor: Prof. Franz J. Weissing Institute: University of Groningen |
| Summer 2021 | Master thesis B: ‘Model for a forward in time simulation of polygenic selection’ Supervisor: Prof. Fernando Racimo Institute: University of Copenhagen with supervision from University of Uppsala |
| Spring 2020 | Project: ‘Accumulation of transposable elements on the sex chromosomes of the African pygmy mouse’. Supervisors: Prof. Pierre Boursot & Dr. Paul Saunders Institute: Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier - University of Montpellier |
| Summer 2019 | Undergraduate thesis project ‘Insights into the demographic history of Portuguese middle and late neolithic populations through ancient DNA analysis’. |
| Summer 2018 | Summer Internship: Analysis of evolutionary processes driving differential sex-biased gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster. Supervisor: Prof. Beatriz Vicoso Institute: Institute of Science and Technology of Austria |
| Spring 2018 | Teaching assistant in the human genomics course at my undergraduate program (UNAM) |
| 2016-2018 | Evolution of sexual systems: expression and decay of genes in the Y chromosome, on age-based differential gene expression in M.mulatta and M.musculus ; phylogenetic evolution simulations. Supervisor: Dr. Diego Cortez Institute: Systems Biology laboratory of the Center for Genomic Sciences, UNAM |
| Summer 2017 | Analysis of alternative splicing across gene families in mammals from transcriptomic data of 45 different species Supervisor: Dr. Araxi Urrutia Institute: Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Bath |
| Winter 2016 | Single cell analyses and testing for different clustering methods for a set of expression data to identify distinct cell populations of differentiated cells and intermediate states Supervisor: Prof. Robert Kelsh Institute: Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath |
Published collaborations
- Acosta, A., Martínez-Pacheco, M. L., Díaz-Barba, K., Porras, N., Gutiérrez-Mariscal, M., & Cortez, D. (2019). Deciphering ancestral sex chromosome turnovers based on analysis of male mutation bias. Genome biology and evolution, 11(11), 3054-3067.
Science outreach
Participant at:
- Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Darwin's Day in Stockholm, 2019
- SciFest - Science Festival, Uppsala 2019
Scholarships
- EMJMD scholarship for master studies (2019-2021).
- OeAD Sonderstipendien, IST AUSTRIA (2018).
- Scholarship for training in research methods SEP-UNAM-FUNAM (2016-2017).