Toby is a PhD candidate under the supervision of Simon Ho, Nate Lo, Carolyn Hogg. Kathy Belov, and Tom Gilbert (University of Copenhagen). His thesis involves estimating the germline mutation rate in Koalas and Tasmanian Devils using genome sequences of parent-offspring trios. He is planning on using these parameters to model historical population sizes for a diverse range of marsupials over the last million years to analyse the impact of historical climate change on population health.
Toby completed his Honours project in 2021 under the supervision of Nate Lo and Simon Ho. His thesis dealt with the taxonomy and evolution of Australian representatives of the cave-dwelling cockroaches Nocticolinae. Toby completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney and was a Denison Research Scholar in the MEEP Lab.
A list of Toby’s publications can be found on Google Scholar.
Awards and honours
- G.H.S. and I.R. Lightoller Scholarship, 2024
- Yim Family Foundation PhD Top-Up Scholarship, 2023
- Australasian Evolution Society Travel Award, 2023
- William John Dakin Memorial Prize in Zoology, 2022
- Science Centenary Fund Scholarship, 2022
- Sidney James Prize for Best Student Poster (Genetics Society of Australasia), 2021
- University Medal in Biology, 2021
- Joyce W. Vickery Scientific Research Fund (Linnean Society of NSW), 2020
- Yim Family Foundation Scholarship, 2020
- Denison Research Scholarship, 2019
