Áki is an evolutionary biologist who focuses on question of adaptation in the sea. His research interests generally relate to molecular evolution, especially in the context of marine ecology. In the Therkildsen lab he is working on the role of genomic architecture in local adaptation in Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia), as well as the implementation of haplotagged sequence data to the American Shad (Alosa sapidissima) system. He was previously a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Katie Lotterhos at Northeastern University's Marine Science Center, and graduated with his Ph.D. from the lab of Dr. Floyd Reed at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, with a specialization in Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation Biology. His dissertation work focused on gene and genome evolution in pan-tropical sea urchins.
