Anibal H. Castillo

I am studying soil and leaf-litter biodiversity and how they vary across ecological gradients. I will apply High Throughput Sequencing, qPCR, and conventional taxonomy to answer these questions. I am co-advised by Dr. Alex Smith and Dr. Dirk Steinke from Integrative Biology, University of Guelph (UofG). I have a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the Republic University in Uruguay, with an emphasis on molecular phylogenetics. I completed my first M.Sc. in Zoology at Integrative Biology, studying whole genome duplications and phylogenetics in salmonid fish. I then worked for eight years at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (now Centre for Biodiversity Genomics), where I initially produced and then curated DNA barcodes of all taxonomic groups. I then completed a second M.Sc. at the School of Environmental Sciences at UofG, studying the relationship between above- and below-ground invertebrate biodiversity.

I volunteer at the Guelph Resource Centre for Gender Empowerment and Diversity (GRCGED), assisting in setting up and taking down displays and tables for events, both on- and off-campus, and general maintenance of the centre. I was in charge of the Office Compost Program at the School of Environmental Sciences, a Sustainability Ambassador at UofG, and I sit on the Board of Directors at my townhouse complex. In addition to my volunteer work roles, I am a regular blood donor at Guelph's Canadian Blood Services. LinkedIn ORCID ResearchGate

Master's degree – 2021. Title: “Soil Biodiversity Metabarcoding in a Newly Established Long-Term Mixed Species Cover Crop Trial”. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Master's Degree – 2008. Title: “The 4R Genome Duplication in Salmonine Fishes: Insights From Conserved Non-Coding Elements”. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences, 2002. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Research articles:

Telfer A, Young M, Quinn J, Perez K, Sobel C, Sones J, Levesque-Beaudin V, Derbyshire R, Fernandez- Triana J, Rougerie R, Thevanayagam A, Boskovic A, Borisenko A, Cadel A, Brown A, Pages A, Castillo AH, et al. 2015. Biodiversity inventories in high gear: DNA barcoding facilitates a rapid biotic survey of a temperate nature reserve. Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e6313. (link).

Castillo AH, Cortinas M. N., Lessa E. P. 2005. Rapid diversification of South American tuco-tucos (Ctenomys; Rodentia, Ctenomyidae): contrasting mitochondrial and nuclear intron sequences. Journal of Mammalogy 86: 170–179. (link).

Book chapters:

Tosi M, Gaiero J, Linton N, Mafa-Attoye T, Castillo AH, Dunfield K, 2021. Bacterial Endophytes: Diversity, Functional Importance, and Potential for Manipulation, in: Gupta, V., Sharma, A. (Eds.), Rhizosphere Biology: Interactions with Plants. Springer, Singapore, 1–49. (link).