Dr Helen Hipperson

School of Biosciences

Research & Development Fellow in Genomics

h.hipperson@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 0049

Profile

Career

Research & Development Fellow in Genomics (2018–present)
Data Analyst, NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, University of Sheffield (2015–2018)
Post-doctoral Research Associate, Imperial College London (2010–2014)
Associate Project Manager, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2009–2010)
PhD ‘Conservation genetics in protected populations’, Animal & Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (2005–2008)

Research interests

My research focuses on applying genomic techniques to answer questions in plant and soil biology, ecology, evolution, conservation and population genomics. I apply cutting-edge sequencing technologies and approaches to design experiments and analyse genomic data from a wide range of sample types and projects, including de novo genomics and transcriptomics, epigenetics, metabarcoding and working with environmental DNA.

My current research projects include identifying key beneficial bacterial taxa and functional genes in soil that benefit plant health (BBSRC ‘disease suppressive microbes’ project) and determining dietary components in wild sheep populations (NERC ‘Ecology Within’ project). I am also working with researchers in Uganda on a GCRF project to apply rapid, in-field genomics for the monitoring and management of insect-vectored viral crop diseases.

I manage the long-read sequencing facility in the P3 pillar of the Institute for Sustainable Food and deliver bioinformatics training as part of the NERC Environment Omics Facility.

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Featured publications

Journal articles

Crawley MJ, Pakeman RJ, Albon SD, Pilkington JG, Stevenson IR, Morrissey MB, Jones OR, Allan E, Bento A, Hipperson H , Asefa G et al (2021) The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food‐limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda. Journal of Ecology.
Vekemans X, Castric V, Hipperson H, Müller NA, Westerdahl H & Cronk Q (2021) Whole‐genome sequencing and genome regions of special interest : lessons from major histocompatibility complex, sex determination, and plant self‐incompatibility. Molecular Ecology.
Zecherle LJ, Nichols HJ, Bar‐David S, Brown RP, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ & Templeton AR (2021) Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions. Evolutionary Applications. View this article in WRRO
Zecherle LJ, Bar-David S, Nichols HJ, Templeton AR, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ & Brown RP (2020) Landscape resistance affects individual habitat selection but not genetic relatedness in a reintroduced desert ungulate. Biological Conservation, 252. View this article in WRRO
Hosegood J, Humble E, Ogden R, de Bruyn M, Creer S, Stevens GMW, Abudaya M, Bassos‐Hull K, Bonfil R, Fernando D , Foote AD et al (2020) Phylogenomics and species delimitation for effective conservation of manta and devil rays. Molecular Ecology, 29(24), 4783-4796. View this article in WRRO
Garrett LJH, Myatt JP, Sadler JP, Dawson DA, Hipperson H, Colbourne JK, Dickey RC, Weber SB & Reynolds SJ (2020) Spatio-temporal processes drive fine-scale genetic structure in an otherwise panmictic seabird population. Scientific Reports, 10. View this article in WRRO
Doble CJ, Hipperson H, Salzburger W, Horsburgh GJ, Mwita C, Murrell DJ & Day JJ (2020) Testing the performance of environmental DNA metabarcoding for surveying highly diverse tropical fish communities: A case study from Lake Tanganyika. Environmental DNA, 2(1), 24-41.
Matthews A, Pierce S, Hipperson H & Raymond B (2019) Rhizobacterial Community Assembly Patterns Vary Between Crop Species. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10. View this article in WRRO
Bhattacharyya S, Dawson DA, Hipperson H & Ishtiaq F (2018) A diet rich in C3 plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change. Molecular Ecology. View this article in WRRO
Clark MS, Thorne MAS, King M, Hipperson H, Hoffman JI & Peck LS (2018) Life in the intertidal: Cellular responses, methylation and epigenetics. Functional Ecology, 32(8), 1982-1994. View this article in WRRO
Dunn JC, Stockdale JE, Moorhouse-Gann RJ, McCubbin A, Hipperson H, Morris AJ, Grice PV & Symondson WOC (2018) The decline of the Turtle Dove: Dietary associations with body condition and competition with other columbids analysed using high-throughput sequencing. Molecular Ecology, 27(16), 3386-3407. View this article in WRRO
Moorhouse-Gann RJ, Dunn JC, de Vere N, Goder M, Cole N, Hipperson H & Symondson WOC (2018) New universal ITS2 primers for high-resolution herbivory analyses using DNA metabarcoding in both tropical and temperate zones. Scientific Reports, 8(1). View this article in WRRO
Armstrong C, Richardson DS, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ, Küpper C, Percival-Alwyn L, Clark M, Burke T & Spurgin LG (2018) Genomic associations with bill length and disease reveal drift and selection across island bird populations. Evolution Letters, 2(1), 22-36. View this article in WRRO
Hipperson H, Whitlock R, Thompson DBA, Butlin RK & Burke T (2016) Consequences of in-situ strategies for the conservation of plant genetic diversity. Biological Conservation, 203, 134-142. View this article in WRRO
Dunning LT, Hipperson H, Baker WJ, Butlin RK, Devaux C, Hutton I, Igea J, Papadopulos AST, Quan X, Smadja CM , Turnbull CGN et al (2016) Ecological speciation in sympatric palms: 1. Gene expression, selection and pleiotropy. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 29(8), 1427-1487. View this article in WRRO
Hipperson H, Dunning LT, Baker WJ, Butlin RK, Hutton I, Papadopulos AST, Smadja CM, Wilson TC, Devaux C & Savolainen V (2016) Ecological speciation in sympatric palms: 2. Pre- and post-zygotic isolation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. View this article in WRRO

All publications

Journal articles

Day G, Fox G, Hipperson H, Maher KH, Tucker R, Horsburgh GJ, Waters D, Durant KL, Burke T, Slate J & Arnold KE (2024) Revealing the Demographic History of the European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). Ecology and Evolution, 14(10).
Dunn JC, Thomas RC, Hipperson H, Sheehan DJ, Orsman C, Mallord J & Goodman SJ (2023) Evidence for strain-specific virulence of Trichomonas gallinae in African columbiformes. Parasitology, 150(2), 206-211.
Thomas RC, Dunn JC, Dawson DA, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ, Morris AJ, Orsman C, Mallord J, Grice PV, Hamer KC , Eraud C et al (2022) Assessing rates of parasite coinfection and spatiotemporal strain variation via metabarcoding: insights for the conservation of European turtle doves Streptopelia turtur. Molecular Ecology.
Thomas RC, Dunn JC, Orsman CJ, Morris AJ, Hipperson H, Grice PV, Hamer KC & Goodman SJ (2022) Successful storage of Trichomonas gallinae on Whatman FTA cards following culture. Conservation Genetics Resources.
Moorhouse-Gann RJ, Vaughan IP, Cole NC, Goder M, Tatayah V, Jones CG, Mike D, Young RP, Bruford MW, Rivers MC , Hipperson H et al (2021) Impacts of herbivory by ecological replacements on an island ecosystem. Journal of Applied Ecology.
Crawley MJ, Pakeman RJ, Albon SD, Pilkington JG, Stevenson IR, Morrissey MB, Jones OR, Allan E, Bento A, Hipperson H , Asefa G et al (2021) The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food‐limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda. Journal of Ecology.
Vekemans X, Castric V, Hipperson H, Müller NA, Westerdahl H & Cronk Q (2021) Whole‐genome sequencing and genome regions of special interest : lessons from major histocompatibility complex, sex determination, and plant self‐incompatibility. Molecular Ecology.
Zecherle LJ, Nichols HJ, Bar‐David S, Brown RP, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ & Templeton AR (2021) Subspecies hybridization as a potential conservation tool in species reintroductions. Evolutionary Applications. View this article in WRRO
Zecherle LJ, Bar-David S, Nichols HJ, Templeton AR, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ & Brown RP (2020) Landscape resistance affects individual habitat selection but not genetic relatedness in a reintroduced desert ungulate. Biological Conservation, 252. View this article in WRRO
Cruz-López M, Fernández G, Hipperson H, Palacios E, Cavitt J, Galindo-Espinosa D, Gómez del Angel S, Pruner R, Gonzalez O, Burke T & Küpper C (2020) Allelic diversity and patterns of selection at the major histocompatibility complex class I and II loci in a threatened shorebird, the Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 20. View this article in WRRO
Hosegood J, Humble E, Ogden R, de Bruyn M, Creer S, Stevens GMW, Abudaya M, Bassos‐Hull K, Bonfil R, Fernando D , Foote AD et al (2020) Phylogenomics and species delimitation for effective conservation of manta and devil rays. Molecular Ecology, 29(24), 4783-4796. View this article in WRRO
Garrett LJH, Myatt JP, Sadler JP, Dawson DA, Hipperson H, Colbourne JK, Dickey RC, Weber SB & Reynolds SJ (2020) Spatio-temporal processes drive fine-scale genetic structure in an otherwise panmictic seabird population. Scientific Reports, 10. View this article in WRRO
Doble CJ, Hipperson H, Salzburger W, Horsburgh GJ, Mwita C, Murrell DJ & Day JJ (2020) Testing the performance of environmental DNA metabarcoding for surveying highly diverse tropical fish communities: A case study from Lake Tanganyika. Environmental DNA, 2(1), 24-41.
Kleinschmidt B, Burger C, Dorsch M, Nehls G, Heinänen S, Morkūnas J, Žydelis R, Moorhouse-Gann RJ, Hipperson H, Symondson WOC & Quillfeldt P (2019) The diet of red-throated divers (Gavia stellata) overwintering in the German Bight (North Sea) analysed using molecular diagnostics. Marine Biology, 166(6). View this article in WRRO
Matthews A, Pierce S, Hipperson H & Raymond B (2019) Rhizobacterial Community Assembly Patterns Vary Between Crop Species. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10. View this article in WRRO
Bhattacharyya S, Dawson DA, Hipperson H & Ishtiaq F (2018) A diet rich in C3 plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change. Molecular Ecology. View this article in WRRO
Clark MS, Thorne MAS, King M, Hipperson H, Hoffman JI & Peck LS (2018) Life in the intertidal: Cellular responses, methylation and epigenetics. Functional Ecology, 32(8), 1982-1994. View this article in WRRO
Dunn JC, Stockdale JE, Moorhouse-Gann RJ, McCubbin A, Hipperson H, Morris AJ, Grice PV & Symondson WOC (2018) The decline of the Turtle Dove: Dietary associations with body condition and competition with other columbids analysed using high-throughput sequencing. Molecular Ecology, 27(16), 3386-3407. View this article in WRRO
Moorhouse-Gann RJ, Dunn JC, de Vere N, Goder M, Cole N, Hipperson H & Symondson WOC (2018) New universal ITS2 primers for high-resolution herbivory analyses using DNA metabarcoding in both tropical and temperate zones. Scientific Reports, 8(1). View this article in WRRO
Armstrong C, Richardson DS, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ, Küpper C, Percival-Alwyn L, Clark M, Burke T & Spurgin LG (2018) Genomic associations with bill length and disease reveal drift and selection across island bird populations. Evolution Letters, 2(1), 22-36. View this article in WRRO
Booth Jones KA, Nicoll MAC, Raisin C, Dawson DA, Hipperson H, Horsburgh GJ, Groombridge JJ, Ismar SMH, Sweet P, Jones CG , Tatayah V et al (2017) Widespread gene flow between oceans in a pelagic seabird species complex. Molecular Ecology, 26(20), 5716-5728. View this article in WRRO
Hipperson H, Whitlock R, Thompson DBA, Butlin RK & Burke T (2016) Consequences of in-situ strategies for the conservation of plant genetic diversity. Biological Conservation, 203, 134-142. View this article in WRRO
Dunning LT, Hipperson H, Baker WJ, Butlin RK, Devaux C, Hutton I, Igea J, Papadopulos AST, Quan X, Smadja CM , Turnbull CGN et al (2016) Ecological speciation in sympatric palms: 1. Gene expression, selection and pleiotropy. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 29(8), 1427-1487. View this article in WRRO
Hipperson H, Dunning LT, Baker WJ, Butlin RK, Hutton I, Papadopulos AST, Smadja CM, Wilson TC, Devaux C & Savolainen V (2016) Ecological speciation in sympatric palms: 2. Pre- and post-zygotic isolation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. View this article in WRRO
Papadopulos AST, Kaye M, Devaux C, Hipperson H, Lighten J, Dunning LT, Hutton I, Baker WJ, Butlin RK & Savolainen V (2014) Evaluation of genetic isolation within an island flora reveals unusually widespread local adaptation and supports sympatric speciation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1648). View this article in WRRO
Papadopulos AST, Price Z, Devaux C, Hipperson H, Smadja CM, Hutton I, Baker WJ, Butlin RK & Savolainen V (2013) A comparative analysis of the mechanisms underlying speciation on Lord Howe Island. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 26(4), 733-745. View this article in WRRO
WHITLOCK R, HIPPERSON H, MANNARELLI M, BUTLIN RK & BURKE T (2008) An objective, rapid and reproducible method for scoring AFLP peak-height data that minimizes genotyping error. Molecular Ecology Resources, 8(4), 725-735.
WHITLOCK R, HIPPERSON H, MANNARELLI M & BURKE T (2008) A high-throughput protocol for extracting high-purity genomic DNA from plants and animals. Molecular Ecology Resources, 8(4), 736-741.
Ellis EE, Edmondson JL, Maher KH, Hipperson H & Campbell SA () Negative effects of urbanisation on diurnal and nocturnal pollen‐transport networks. Ecology Letters.
Wilkinson SW, Hannan Parker A, Muench A, Wilson RS, Hooshmand K, Henderson MA, Moffat EK, Rocha PSCF, Hipperson H, Stassen JHM , López Sánchez A et al () Long-lasting memory of jasmonic acid-dependent immunity requires DNA demethylation and ARGONAUTE1. Nature Plants.

Preprints

Llanos J, Hipperson H, Horsburgh G, Lappage M, Maher KH, Burke T, Leake JR & Watt PJ (2023) Environmental DNA is more effective than soil-pit hand sorting in evaluating earthworm biodiversity responses to more regenerative agricultural management, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Day G, Fox G, Hipperson H, Maher K, Tucker R, Horsburgh G, Waters D, Durrant KL, Arnold K, Burke T & Slate J (2023) Revealing the Demographic History of the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus)., Authorea, Inc..
Winder LA, Parsons P, Horsburgh G, Maher K, Hipperson H, Wierzbicki C, Jeffries AR, Brown MR, Fairbrother-Browne A, Denise H , Khalifa MS et al (2022) Comparison of multiple whole-genome andSpike-only sequencing protocols for estimating variant frequencies via wastewater-based epidemiology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Thomas R, Dunn J, Dawson D, Hipperson H, Horsburgh G, Morris A, Orsman C, Mallord J, Grice P, Hamer KC , Eraud C et al () Assessing rates of parasite coinfection and spatiotemporal strain variation via metabarcoding: insights for the conservation of European Turtle Doves Streptopelia turtur, Authorea, Inc..
Hosegood J, Humble E, Ogden R, de Bruyn M, Creer S, Stevens G, Abudaya M, Bassos-Hull K, Bonfil R, Fernando D , Foote AD et al () Genome-wide data for effective conservation of manta and devil ray species, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.