Alan J. Cooper

Alan Cooper (born 1966)[1] is a New Zealand evolutionary molecular biologist and an ancient DNA researcher. He is considered a significant figure in the field of ancient DNA, and was involved in many of the early discoveries in the field. 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] In December 2019 he was dismissed from Adelaide for serious misconduct.[3]

Alan Cooper
Born
Alan J. Cooper

1966 (age 54–55)
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

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[4] for evolutionary studies of New Zealand birds.[4] During his PhD he also worked at the University of California, Berkeley supervised by Allan C. Wilson and Svante Pääbo.[5]

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, and resigned from Oxford in 2005, moving 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.[6] Cooper was suspended from the University of Adelaide in September 2019, following allegations that he bullied staff and students at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, which he denied.[7][8] He was dismissed in December 2019 for serious misconduct.[3][9]

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.[10]

In 2001, he used these methods to characterise the first complete mitochondrial genome sequences from extinct species, two New Zealand moa.[11]

Cooper has analysed ancient DNA from extinct species preserved in caves, permafrost areas of Alaska and the Yukon,[12] 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.[13]

Awards

He was awarded the Walter Fitch Award (1994)[21] and the Ernst Mayr Award (1995)[22] 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.
  4. Cooper, Alan (1994). Molecular evolutionary studies of New Zealand birds. tewaharoa.victoria.ac.nz (PhD thesis). Victoria University of Wellington. OCLC 154061907.
  5. "Research Profiles: Professor Alan Cooper". Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  6. "16 new Australian Laureate Fellows to push the boundaries of research". Australian Research Council. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  7. Lewis, Dyani (19 August 2019). "Head of prestigious ancient-DNA lab suspended amid bullying allegations". Nature. 572 (7770): 424–425. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02490-y. PMID 31431750.
  8. Culotta, Elizabeth (19 August 2019). "Australian university suspends ancient DNA expert Alan Cooper as part of workplace investigation". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aaz1830.
  9. Wadman, Meredith (20 December 2019). "Bullying allegations lead to firing of prominent ancient DNA expert". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aba6622.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Kahn, Jennifer. "Canada's Ancient Monsters on Ice", Discover, 28 March 2004. Retrieved on 18 October 2014
  13. 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.
  14. 2017 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes winners, Australian Museum. Retrieved on 8 August 2019
  15. "Professor Alan Cooper is SA Scientist of the Year" Retrieved on 16 July 2019
  16. "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
  17. "Australian Centre for Ancient DNA: Research" Retrieved on 7 December 2014
  18. "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
  19. "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
  20. "Annual Report of the Institute of Zoology 2001/02" [Zoological Society of London] Retrieved on 7 December 2014
  21. "The Walter M. Fitch Award". www.smbe.org. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  22. "Ernst Mayr Award". Society of Systematic Biologists. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
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