Damian M Menning, Ph.D.
Genetics, Environmental DNA (eDNA), Python/Biopython scripting, Molecular ecology, Bioinformatics
Biography
Education
Ph.D. 2014 University of South Florida, Tampa FL Cell and Molecular Biology
B.S. 2006 Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston TX Marine Biology
Professional Experience
2015 - Present Geneticist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
Science and Products
Molecular Ecology Laboratory in Alaska
The Molecular Ecology Laboratory at the USGS Alaska Science Center provides genetic capabilities for the wide range of science needs of the Department of the Interior nationally as well as on trust species and resources in Alaska.
Using redundant primer sets to detect multiple native Alaskan fish species from environmental DNA
Accurate and timely data regarding freshwater fish communities is important for informed decision-making by local, state, tribal, and federal land and resource managers; however, conducting traditional gear-based fish surveys can be an expensive and time-consuming process, particularly in remote areas, like those that characterize much of Alaska....
Menning, Damian M.; Simmons, Trey; Talbot, Sandra L.Museum metabarcoding: a novel method revealing gut helminth communities of small mammals across space and time
Natural history collections spanning multiple decades provide fundamental historical baselines to measure and understand changing biodiversity. New technologies such as next generation DNA sequencing (NGS) have considerably increased the potential of museum specimens to address significant questions regarding the impact of environmental changes on...
Greiman, Stephen E.; Cook, Joseph A.; Tkach, Vasyl V.; Hoberg, Eric P.; Menning, Damian M.; Hope, Andrew G.; Sonsthagen, Sarah A.; Talbot, Sandra L.A transcriptome resource for the Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida)
Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida) serve as an important link in Arctic food webs and are thus considered an important species for environmental monitoring. RNA-Seq was conducted on samples from wild-collected individuals representing various age classes and tissue types to obtain as complete a transcriptome as possible on an Illumina MiSeq, which...
Wilson, Robert E.; Menning, Damian M.; Wedemeyer, Kate; Talbot, Sandra L.Genomics of Arctic cod
The Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) is an abundant marine fish that plays a vital role in the marine food web. To better understand the population genetic structure and the role of natural selection acting on the maternally-inherited mitochondrial genome (mitogenome), a molecule often associated with adaptations to temperature, we analyzed genetic...
Wilson, Robert E.; Sage, George K.; Sonsthagen, Sarah A.; Gravley, Megan C.; Menning, Damian M.; Talbot, Sandra L.Pre-USGS Publications
Python scripts for Bioinformatics, 2017
Bioinformatics software repository containing python scripts intended for search and download of genetic information obtained from GenBank NCBI genetics data resources in support of developing PCR primers, targeted genetic databases, genetic analyses, and data interpretation. Includes multiple functions to streamline this process.