Dr Simon Jarman BSc (Hons), PhD

Expertise and research interests

My expertise is in the use of DNA and RNA to study key aspects of animal populations such as their diet, age profiles and degree of similarity to other populations. As well as applying existing tools, I develop new molecular methods and software relevant to molecular ecology.

A major focus of my research is the use of DNA to identify the food of animals. As all living things have unique DNA sequences within them, these DNA sequences can be used to estimate the species composition of an animal's diet. We are using these methods because they allow us to improve our understanding of animal diet and they allow this to be done in a non-invasive manner. Animal scats can be collected without harming the animal and provide enough food DNA for us to assess the diet of the animal. It is important to use non-invasive methods for studying penguins, seals and whales as these are protected species.

Another key research area for the AMMC genetics lab is the investigation of molecular methods to estimate the age of cetaceans. As part of this work, we have studied special DNA and protein structures at the end of chromosomes called telomeres. In many animals these change length with age and by measuring them it has been thought that animal age could be estimated. We have also begun exploring the use of changes in the rate of use of genes (their 'messenger RNA' levels) in whale skin and blubber as a means for non lethally estimating cetacean age.

The AMMC genetics lab also has research projects (see Mike Double's section) on the population genetics of humpback whales and blue whales.

Selected publications

Vestheim H, Jarman SN (2008) Blocking primers to enhance PCR amplification of rare sequences in mixed samples a case study on prey DNA in Antarctic krill stomachs. Frontiers in Zoology 5:12

Casper RM,•Jarman SN, Gales NJ, Hindell MA (2007) Combining DNA and morphological analyses of faecal samples improves insight into trophic interactions: a case study using a generalist predator. Marine Biology DOI 10.1007/s00227-007-0732-y.

Casper, RM, Jarman SN, Deagle BE, Gales NJ Hindell MA (2007) Detecting prey from DNA in predator scats: a comparison with morphological analysis, using Arctocephalus seals fed a known diet. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 347:144154.

Jarman SN (2006) Cleaver: software for identifying taxon specific restriction endonuclease recognition sites. Bioinformatics 22: 2160-2161.

Deagle BE, Eveson JP, Jarman SN (2006) Quantification of sequence specific damage in DNA from highly degraded samples. Fronteirs in Zoology 3:11.

Bissett A, Gibson JAE, Jarman SN, Swadling KM, Cromer L (2005) Isolation, amplification and identification of ancient copepod DNA from lake sediments. Limnology and Oceanography Methods 3: 533-542.

Deagle BE, Tollit DJ, Jarman SN, Hindell MA, Trites AW, Gales NJ (2005). Molecular scatology as a tool to study diet: analysis of prey DNA in scats from captive Stellar sea lions. Molecular Ecology 14:1831-1842.

Jarman SN (2004) Amplicon: software for designing PCR primers on aligned DNA sequences. Bioinformatics 20: 1644-1645.

Jarman SN, Deagle BE, Gales NJ (2004) Group-specific polymerase chain reaction for DNA-based analysis of species identity and diversity in dietary samples. Molecular Ecology 13: 1313-1322.

Jarman SN,  Gales NG, Tierney M, Gill PC, Elliott NG (2002) A DNA-based method for identification of krill species and its application to analysing the diet of marine vertebrate predators. Molecular Ecology 11: 2679-2690.