Alan J. Cooper

Alan Cooper (born 1966)[1] is a New Zealand evolutionary biologist and an ancient DNA researcher. He was involved in several important early ancient DNA studies, such as the first sequencing of moa genomes. He was the inaugural director of both the Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre at the University of Oxford from 2001–2005, and the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide, South Australia from 2005–2019.[2]

Alan Cooper
Born
Alan J. Cooper

1966 (age 56–57)
Dunedin, New Zealand
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington (PhD)
Awards
  • Eureka Prize (2017)
  • South Australian Scientist of the Year (2016)
  • ARC Laureate Fellowship (2014)
  • Royal Society of South Australia Verco Medal (2013)
  • ARC Future Fellowship (2011)
  • ARC Federation Fellowship (2005)
  • Zoological Society of London Medal (2002)
  • Ernst Mayr Award (1995)
  • Walter Fitch Award (1994)
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsVictoria University Wellington
Smithsonian Institution
University of Oxford
University of Adelaide
ThesisMolecular evolutionary studies of New Zealand birds (1994)
Doctoral advisorAllan C. Wilson
Svante Pääbo

In December 2019, the University of Adelaide dismissed him, citing "serious misconduct" for bullying staff and students.[3] He was recruited by Charles Sturt University in 2023.[4]

Early life and education

Cooper was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, where he was involved in cave exploration and cave rescue at university and regional level. He was awarded a PhD from the Victoria University of Wellington in 1994[5] for evolutionary studies of New Zealand birds.[5] During his PhD he also worked at the University of California, Berkeley supervised by Allan C. Wilson and Svante Pääbo.[6]

Career

In 1999, Cooper established the Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre at the University of Oxford and in 2002 was made Professor of Ancient Biomolecules at Oxford. In 2004, he was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Federation Fellowship. He resigned from Oxford in 2005, following an internal investigation into allegations that he fabricated data in grant applications.[7] He subsequently moved to the University of Adelaide to establish the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA. At Adelaide, he led the Ancient DNA node of the Genographic Project examining human origins and dispersal from 2005–2010. He was awarded a series of ARC Fellowships: Federation (2005–2010), Future (2011–2014), and Laureate (2014–2019) researching human evolution and climate change.[8]

In 2019, Cooper's former PhD scholar and students at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA filed a complaint to the university that Cooper was a habitual bully. Same accusations were given by several other students,[9] describing the place as "a toxic work environment",[3] which he denied.[10][11] After an investigation, Cooper was suspended from the university in August 2019.[12] He was dismissed in December 2019 for what the university dubbed a "serious misconduct."[3][13] In January 2020, he filed a legal petition against the university for unfair dismissal. The case was settled out of court in July 2020.[14]

In June, 2023, Charles Sturt University announced that it had appointed Cooper as professor to its Gulbali Institute for Agriculture, Water and Environment, based in Albury-Wodonga.[4] The university remarked him as "a leading figure in the development of ancient-DNA research and [who] was involved in many important early discoveries in the field. He brings significant global networks and achievements to Charles Sturt University."[14]

Research

Cooper has published over 27 papers in the journals Nature and Science. In 2000, with Henrik Poinar, he suggested that the standards of much ancient DNA research were insufficient to rule out contamination, especially in studies of ancient humans.[15]

In 2001, he used these methods to characterise the first complete mitochondrial genome sequences from extinct species, two New Zealand moa.[16]

Cooper has analysed ancient DNA from extinct species preserved in caves, permafrost areas of Alaska and the Yukon,[17] Antarctica, and sedimentary and archaeological deposits around the world. He has published on the evolutionary history of a range of enigmatic extinct species including: New Zealand moa and Madagascan elephant bird (Aepyornis), the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus), American lion (P. leo atrox) and cheetah-like cat (Miracinonyx), North and South American horses (stilt-legged horse, Hippidion), steppe bison, bears (Arctodus, U. arctos), cave hyenas (Crocuta spelaea), mammoth, and the Falkland Islands wolf (Dusicyon australis). He has also shown that the calcified plaque on the teeth of ancient skeletons can be used to reconstruct the evolution of the human microbiome through time.[18]

In 2021, Cooper and colleagues published a paper in Science, arguing that the extinction of Neanderthals and the appearance of cave paintings could be linked to a geomagnetic excursion approximately 41,000 years ago, dubbed the Laschamp event.[19] The claims were met with skepticism by other experts.[20]

Awards

He was awarded the Walter Fitch Award (1994)[28] and the Ernst Mayr Award (1995)[29] for his PhD research into the evolution of New Zealand birds.

References
  1. Ross, John (5 July 2018). "Interview with Alan Cooper". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  2. "Alan Cooper". Royal Institution of Australia. 30 April 2005. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. Lewis, Dyani (21 December 2019). "Head of ancient-DNA lab sacked for 'serious misconduct'". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03932-3. PMID 33340012. S2CID 212810656.
  4. Howes, Ted (10 July 2023). "Dismissed DNA professor rehired at CSU's Border campus". The Border Mail. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  5. Cooper, Alan (1994). Molecular evolutionary studies of New Zealand birds. tewaharoa.victoria.ac.nz (PhD thesis). Victoria University of Wellington. OCLC 154061907.
  6. "Research Profiles: Professor Alan Cooper". Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  7. Pincock, Stephen (1 June 2005). "Oxford DNA Lab Leaderless". The Scientist Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  8. "16 new Australian Laureate Fellows to push the boundaries of research". Australian Research Council. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  9. Lewis, Dyani (23 August 2019). "'Paralysed by anxiety': researchers speak about life in troubled ancient-DNA lab". Nature. 572 (7771): 571–572. Bibcode:2019Natur.572..571L. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02540-5. PMID 31455916. S2CID 201656835.
  10. Lewis, Dyani (19 August 2019). "Head of prestigious ancient-DNA lab suspended amid bullying allegations". Nature. 572 (7770): 424–425. Bibcode:2019Natur.572..424L. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02490-y. PMID 31431750.
  11. Culotta, Elizabeth (19 August 2019). "Australian university suspends ancient DNA expert Alan Cooper as part of workplace investigation". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aaz1830. S2CID 202354006.
  12. Lewis, Dyani (19 August 2019). "Head of prestigious ancient-DNA lab suspended amid bullying allegations". Nature. 572 (7770): 424–425. Bibcode:2019Natur.572..424L. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02490-y. PMID 31431750. S2CID 201105764.
  13. Wadman, Meredith (20 December 2019). "Bullying allegations lead to firing of prominent ancient DNA expert". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aba6622. S2CID 214460564.
  14. Lewis, Dyani (28 June 2023). "Ancient-DNA researcher fired for 'serious misconduct' lands new role". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-02147-x. PMID 37380840. S2CID 259285719.
  15. Cooper, A. (2000). "Ancient DNA: Do It Right or Not at All". Science. 289 (5482): 1139b–1139. doi:10.1126/science.289.5482.1139b. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 10970224. S2CID 11030200.
  16. Cooper, Alan; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Anderson, Simon; Rambaut, Andrew; Austin, Jeremy; Ward, Ryk (2001). "Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of two extinct moas clarify ratite evolution". Nature. 409 (6821): 704–707. doi:10.1038/35055536. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 11217857. S2CID 4430050.
  17. Kahn, Jennifer. "Canada's Ancient Monsters on Ice", Discover, 28 March 2004. Retrieved on 18 October 2014
  18. Adler, Christina J; Dobney, Keith; Weyrich, Laura S; Kaidonis, John; Walker, Alan W; Haak, Wolfgang; Bradshaw, Corey J A; Townsend, Grant; Sołtysiak, Arkadiusz; Alt, Kurt W; Parkhill, Julian; Cooper, Alan (2013). "Sequencing ancient calcified dental plaque shows changes in oral microbiota with dietary shifts of the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions". Nature Genetics. 45 (4): 450–455. doi:10.1038/ng.2536. ISSN 1061-4036. PMC 3996550. PMID 23416520.
  19. Cooper, Alan; Turney, Chris S. M.; Palmer, Jonathan; Hogg, Alan; McGlone, Matt; Wilmshurst, Janet; Lorrey, Andrew M.; Heaton, Timothy J.; Russell, James M.; McCracken, Ken; Anet, Julien G. (19 February 2021). "A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago". Science. 371 (6531): 811–818. doi:10.1126/science.abb8677. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 33602851. S2CID 231955607.
  20. Voosen, Paul (19 February 2021). "Kauri trees mark magnetic flip 42,000 years ago". Science. 371 (6531): 766. Bibcode:2021Sci...371..766V. doi:10.1126/science.371.6531.766. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 33602836. S2CID 231963027.
  21. 2017 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes winners, Australian Museum. Retrieved on 8 August 2019
  22. "Professor Alan Cooper is SA Scientist of the Year" Retrieved on 16 July 2019
  23. "Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship: Alan Cooper" Archived 11 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine "Australian Research Council" Archived 22 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 7 December 2014
  24. "Australian Centre for Ancient DNA: Research" Retrieved on 7 December 2014
  25. "Australian Research Council Future Fellowships 2009" Archived 10 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine "Australian Research Council" Archived 22 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 7 December 2014
  26. "Australian Research Council Federation Fellowships 2004" Archived 7 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine "Australian Research Council" Archived 22 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 7 December 2014
  27. "Annual Report of the Institute of Zoology 2001/02" [Zoological Society of London] Retrieved on 7 December 2014
  28. "The Walter M. Fitch Award". www.smbe.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  29. "Ernst Mayr Award". Society of Systematic Biologists. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
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