Barbara R. Holland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Barbara Ruth Holland
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| Born | 23 January 1976 |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Alma mater | Massey University |
| Known for | Theoretical Phylogenetics |
| Awards | Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2011-2014) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical Phylogenetics |
| Institutions | University of Tasmania |
| Thesis | Evolutionary analyses of large data sets: Trees and beyond (2001) |
| Doctoral advisor | Michael Hendy David Penny |
Barbara Ruth Holland is a scientist from New Zealand who also lives in Australia. She is a professor of mathematics at the University of Tasmania. She's part of a special group that studies phylogenetics using math.
Professor Holland also helps lead research at a center focused on making plants successful in nature and farming. She's helped create important ways to build 'family trees' for living things. These trees show how different species are related, using information from their DNA and proteins. She has written many scientific papers and given lots of talks about her work. She's also a senior editor for a science magazine called Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Contents
What Does a Phylogenetist Do?
Barbara Holland is interested in several science areas. These include phylogenetics (the study of how living things are related), mathematical biology (using math to understand biology), population genetics (how genes change in groups of living things), and epidemiology (how diseases spread).
Her main interest is figuring out how to build these 'evolutionary trees'. These trees show how different species have changed over millions of years. She creates tools to check if the information from DNA and proteins fits these trees. Professor Holland helps biologists turn their unsolved questions into math problems.
Barbara Holland's Journey in Science
Barbara Holland finished her PhD at Massey University in New Zealand in 2001. Her research was about understanding how living things evolve by looking at huge amounts of data.
After her PhD, she worked as a researcher in Germany for about a year. From 2002 to 2010, she worked at Massey University in New Zealand. She was a research fellow at the Allan Wilson Centre. She also taught mathematics there.
In 2010, Professor Holland moved to Australia and started teaching mathematics at the University of Tasmania. From 2011 to 2014, she was a special Future Fellow at the university. This was a big award from the Australian Research Council.
Helping Organize Science Meetings
From 2010 to 2014, Professor Holland helped organize a conference called Phylomania. This meeting brought together scientists who study phylogenetics using math. They worked on big challenges in the field.
In 2010, she was also the main organizer for the New Zealand Phylogenetics Meeting. This meeting took place in Whakapapa Village.
Awards and Recognition
Professor Holland's skills have led her to work on many research projects. She has also received several awards. In 2004, she helped with a project called 'Understanding Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes'. This project was funded by a Marsden grant.
In 2005, she led another Marsden-funded project. It was about plant family trees and how they change. That same year, she received the Bridge to Employment Grant and the Hamilton Award from the Royal Society of New Zealand. She was also invited to a special workshop for young researchers.
In 2006, she helped with another Marsden project. She also received the Early Career Research Medal from Massey University. She has been an editor for the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution since 2007, becoming a Senior Editor in 2012.
In 2008, she received the Early Career Research Award from the New Zealand Mathematical Society. In 2009, she led a Marsden project about understanding complex evolution. In 2010, she received another Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council.
In 2011, Professor Holland was involved in two projects. One was about ancient ibis mummies from Egypt and their DNA. The other looked at how animals might respond to climate change. From 2013 to 2016, she was elected to serve on the council of the Society of Systematic Biologists.
