Olivier Laroche
Molecular ecologist & data scientist
Role at Cawthron
Olivier is a molecular scientist in the Molecular Surveillance team of the Marine Biosecurity group at Cawthron. He has a strong background in environmental DNA/RNA research, omics technologies (e.g. metabarcoding, metagenomics, transcriptomics), bioinformatics, data integration and analysis, and applies these skills and experiences across a wide range of research programs related to aquaculture and benthic monitoring. His recent research focusses especially on deep-sea benthic communities and on the development of molecular-based tools for assessing the environmental impacts of various anthropogenic activities (aquaculture, deep-sea exploration, etc.).
Technical skills, experience and interests
- Benthic monitoring
- Environmental DNA/RNA
- Omics technologies
- Bioinformatics & programming
- Data science and analysis
Qualifications
- PhD Biology – University of Auckland (NZ), 2019
- MSc Environmental Management – University of Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada), 2011