Bobbi J Pierson
Data Steward for the Molecular Ecology Laboratory ensuring compliance with data reporting requirements
Sample archival
Marker development and optimization
Application of novel techniques
Population genetic data generation
Biography
Education
B.S. 1993 University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois Agriculture (Animal Science)
Professional Experience
2016 - Present Geneticist, USGS Alaska Science Center Molecular Ecology Laboratory
1997 - 2002 Geneticist, USGS Alaska Science Center Molecular Ecology Laboratory
1993 - 1997 Research Biologist, LGL Alaska Research Associates
Science and Products
Lack of spatial genetic structure among nesting and wintering King Eiders
The King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) has been delineated into two broadly distributed breeding populations in North America (the western and eastern Arctic) on the basis of banding data and their use of widely separated Pacific and Atlantic wintering areas. Little is known about the level of gene flow between these two populations. Also unknown...
Pearce, John M.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Petersen, Margaret R.; Scribner, Kim T.; Dickson, D. Lynne.; Mosbech, Anders Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the intertidal sponge Halichondria panicea
GA- and CA-enriched genomic libraries were constructed for the intertidal sponge Halichondria panicea. Unique repeat motifs identified varied from the expected simple dinucleotide repeats to more complex repeat units. All sequences tended to be highly repetitive but did not necessarily contain the targeted motifs. Seven microsatellite loci were...
Knowlton, Anne L.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Highsmith, Ray C. Molecular status of the dusky Canada goose (Branta canadensis occidentalis): A genetic assessment of a translocation effort
Until recently, the dusky Canada goose (Branta canadensis occidentalis) was managedas one breeding population from the CopperRiver Delta (CRD), Alaska. Population numberson the CRD have declined precipitously over thelast three decades, due in part to changes inhabitat. In 1981, a pair of Canada geese,presumably B.c. occidentalis, wasreported...
Talbot, Sandra L.; Pearce, John M.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Derksen, Dirk V.; Scribner, Kim T. Phylogeography of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) in western North America
Using molecular genetic markers that differ in mode of inheritance and rate of evolution, we examined levels and partitioning of genetic variation for seven nominal subspecies (11 breeding populations) of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) in western North America. Gene trees constructed from mtDNA control region sequence data show that subspecies...
Scribner, Kim T.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Pearce, John M.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Bollinger, K.S.; Derksen, Dirk V. A genetic evaluation of morphology used to identify harvested Canada geese
Using maximum likelihood estimators (in genetic stock identification), we used genetic markers to evaluate the utility of 2 morphological measures (culmen length and plumage color) to correctly identify groups of hunter-harvested dusky (Branta canadensis occidentalis) and dusky-like Canada geese on the wintering grounds within the Pacific Flyway....
Pearce, John M.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Derksen, Dirk V.; Kraege, Donald K.; Scribner, Kim T. Molecular genetic status of Aleutian Canada Geese from Buldir and the Semidi Islands, Alaska
We conducted genetic analyses of Aleutian Canada Geese (Branta canadensis leucopareia) from Buldir Island in the western Aleutians and the Semidi Islands in the eastern portion of their breeding range. We compared data from seven microsatellite DNA loci and 143 base pairs of the control region of mitochondrial DNA from the two populations of...
Pierson, Barbara J.; Pearce, John M.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Shields, Gerald F.; Scribner, Kim T. Harlequin Duck recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill: A population genetics perspective
Concerns about Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill led biologists to ask whether birds located in different molting and wintering areas belong to genetically distinct and, thus, demographically independent populations. Owing to the lack of direct observations of movements among marine...
Lanctot, Richard B.; Goatcher, Buddy L.; Scribner, Kim T.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Esler, Daniel N.; Zwiefelhofer, Denny Dinucleotide repeat polymorphisms in waterfowl (family Anatidae): Characterization of a sex-linked (Z-specific) and 14 autosomal loci
Canada goose (Branta Canadensis) and harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) DNAs were digested with Sau3AI, and size selected (300-700 bp) fragments were ligated into BamHI-digested pBluscriptII KS+. The enrichment protocol of Ostrander et al.1 was followed. The resulting libraries were screened using a [ƴ-32P]ATP end-labelled (CA)20...
Buchholz, W.G.; Pearce, John M.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Scribner, Kim T. Genetic variation in domestic reindeer and wild caribou in Alaska
Reindeer were introduced into Alaska 100 years ago and have been maintained as semidomestic livestock. They have had contact with wild caribou herds, including deliberate cross-breeding and mixing in the wild. Reindeer have considerable potential as a domestic animal for meat or velvet antler production, and wild caribou are important to...
Cronin, M.; Renecker, L.; Pierson, Barbara J.; Patton, J.C.