Alaric McCarthy

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
Alaric McCarthy