MACLEOD Ruairidh

Dr. Ruairidh (Rory) Macleod is presently a Postdoctoral Fellow at University College London.

Past BAP research: Ruairidh Macleod began working with the BAP in Fall 2019 as a research assistant for Dr. Eske Willerslev, performing labwork for ancient DNA extractions of individuals from cemeteries excavated by the BAP at the Centre for Geogenetics in Denmark. He is set to continue work on the ancient human genomic history of the Lake Baikal region as a graduate student supervised by Drs. Eske Willerslev and Matthew Collins at the University of Cambridge in Fall 2020, with Dr. Andrzej Weber as an advisor.

Through sequencing a large representation of the genomes of individuals across different cultural traditions and phases of occupation, Ruairidh’s research focuses on revealing spatio-temporal population history and dynamics, in particular how these are tied to cultural and ecological influences. Through shotgun illumina sequencing, evidence of the genetic basis of past diseases and preserved pathogen DNA will also be studied in relation to the broader ecology of the middle holocene hunter-gatherers at Lake Baikal.

On December 18, 2024, Ruairidh successfully defended his PhD thesis titled ‘An Ancient Genomic Perspective of Kinship, Disease, and Environment’ at the University of Cambridge. This centred on ancient genome data from Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers at Lake Baikal, in particular case studies from an apparent EBA massacre group, outbreaks of pathogens among occupants of LN cemeteries, and study applying methods to combine the analysis of ancient human genome data with an ancient environmental DNA record of ecosystems around Lake Baikal. Additionally, this included a methodological chapter that Ruairidh had prepared for the published volume.

RESEARCH INTERESTS: Ancient genomics and multi-omics, Human evolution and ecology, Population genetics and biomolecular preservation