Emily Remnant

Lecturer and Academic Fellow
University of Sydney

Emily is a geneticist and evolutionary biologist investigating how insects respond to changes in their environment. She uses genetics and genomics to study genes involved in resistance to chemical insecticides, and to investigate the impact of viral diseases on beneficial insects like honey bees. She uses laboratory and bioinformatics techniques including next generation sequencing, metagenomics, and controlled lab experiments with insects along with field collections, to understand the molecular basis of evolution.

Emily completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2012, using Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the genetic changes involved in the development of insecticide resistance. She joined the University of Sydney in 2012. Currently she focuses on understanding host-parasite interactions and the evolution of virulence in honey bee viruses.

From this author

Inclusive and workplace acceptance of refugees
Partnering for refugee employment

When considering their talent pipelines, few companies think outside-of-the-box. Most refugees flourish in the workplace, and so do the businesses that hire them.

SDG 16
Institutional investors demand a more sustainable capitalism

Honey gathering is a solitary job in Indigenous communities. The collector then shares the honey with their community but refrains from joining in the honey feast themself. The idea is that the gathering is not about their gratification, it’s about their contribution to the collective.  

SDG15 Bushfires
Optimisation model as a guide to burning forests to save forests

Setting fire to parts of a forest to save it might seem counterintuitive to urban communities. There is no equivalent of torching a few streets to protect a suburb. However, amongst First Nations people in Australia, hazard reduction burning is a well-established practice.

SDG13 - coal mining
Net zero now – it’s the economy AND the planet

In Australia, as elsewhere, the climate wars have focused on the climate versus jobs dichotomy. Yet while Australia remains highly dependent on fossil fuel extraction for its national economic prosperity it has also become increasingly unequal in its distribution of that wealth.