Yani Meiborg

I built a population model in R using the AlphaSimR to assess the effectivity of gene drive technology to suppress a population of the invasive Asian hornet in Europe. Asian hornets pose a serious threat to the beekeeping industry as well as other endemic pollinator species. Conventional methods have thus far proved to be ineffective in reducing the spread of this hornet in any way. To this end I look at different criteria:

Goals:

• Does a gene drive spread through a hornet population?
• Under what conditions can a gene drive actually suppress a hornet population?

I’m an MSc graduate from Wageningen University, specialised in developmental and evolutionary biology. I am especially interested in the interplay between evolution and development; the mechanics behind the amazing diversity of life.

I am specifically interested in:

Programming language and software:

I play the cornet and the tuba in two wind orchestras, when by myself, I usually (try to) play jazz solos.

Besides that I’m an avid reader, I enjoy both tabletop and virtual games, I love being out in nature, for instance by hiking.

During corona I picked-up a new hobby: Sourdough bread baking. I found this to be very relaxing and rewarding. It’s not as difficult as one might expect, and even if the bread “fails”, the taste is still amazing!