Education

• University of Arizona: PhD (Fall 2019-Spring 2024)
  • Genetics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Minor

• Kentucky Wesleyan College: BS (Fall 2016-Spring 2019)
  • Biology and Chemistry (Biochemistry Emphasis); Music Minor

Research

I successfully defended my dissertation, “Conservation Genomics and Viromics of Sonoran Desert Felids,” in December 2023, and I am now beginning my National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology in Leigh Combrink’s lab. I’m excited to continue to work with everyone in the Culver Conservation Genetics Lab during my fellowship!

In my research, I integrate genomic data from viruses and their hosts to clarify disease threats to wildlife populations, as well as domestic animals and humans through a One Health framework. By conducting research at the intersection of wildlife conservation genomics and viral metagenomics, I strive to inform more comprehensive plans for recovery and survival of wildlife populations by understanding how viruses are shared in communities of wildlife hosts, how host population genetic factors shape communities of viruses, which host populations are most vulnerable to disease, and which specific viral disease threats are present. I am also interested in understanding the evolutionary histories of wildlife populations, as well as the genetic factors affecting their viability. I have studied a wide range of species from the Sonoran Desert and elsewhere, including bobcats, jaguars, Sonoran pronghorn, crested caracaras, Ferris’s copper butterfly, and flat-tailed horned lizards.

Teaching

Instructor

WFSC/ECOL/GENE 430 – Conservation Genetics – Summer 2021-2023

Teaching Assistantship

ECOL 182L – Introductory Biology II Lab – Fall 2020/2021, Spring 2023

RNR 150 – Sustainable Earth – Spring 2022

Online Course Design

WFSC/ECOL/GENE 430/530 – Conservation Genetics

Recent Publications

Payne N, Erwin JA, Morrison J, Dwyer J, Culver M. Genomic Insights into Isolation of the Threatened Florida Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus). 2024. Journal of Heredity 115: 45-56. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad057

Payne N*, Combrink L*, Kraberger S, Fontenele RS, Schmidlin K, Cassaigne I, Culver M, Varsani A, Van Doorslaer K. DNA virome composition of two sympatric wild felids, bobcat (Lynx rufus) and puma (Puma concolor) in Sonora, Mexico. 2023. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11:1126149. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1126149 (*contributed equally to this study)

Payne N, Kraberger S, Fontenele RS, Schmidlin K, Bergeman MH, Cassaigne I, Culver M, Varsani A, Van Doorslaer K. Novel Circoviruses Detected in Feces of Sonoran Felids. 2020. Viruses 12:1027. https://doi.org/10.3390/v12091027

Contact

Email: nataliermercer@arizona.edu