Nathan Kenny

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Nathan J Kenny
CitizenshipNew Zealand
Alma mater University of Otago (BA, DipLang, BSc Hons); University of Oxford (DPhil)
Known forGenomic studies of green-lipped mussels and other invertebrates
AwardsRutherford Discovery Fellowship (2020); Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (2017)
Scientific career
FieldsEvolutionary genomics; comparative genomics; evolutionary developmental biology
Institutions University of Otago; Oxford Brookes University; Chinese University of Hong Kong; Natural History Museum, London
Thesis  (2014)

Nathan James Kenny is a New Zealand evolutionary‐genomics scientist. He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Otago, where he leads research on the molecular basis of climate-change resilience in the green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus). [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Kenny grew up mainly in Christchurch, and traces whakapapa to Te Ātiawa and Ngāi Tahu. [2] He completed a BA in Philosophy, a Diploma in German, and a BSc (Hons) in Genetics at the University of Otago, graduating in 2009. [3] In 2014 he earned a DPhil in Zoology from St Cross College, University of Oxford. [4]

Career

After his doctorate Kenny undertook post-doctoral research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2017 he received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to work at the Natural History Museum, London, investigating genomic adaptation in sponges. [5] He later joined Oxford Brookes University, applying single-cell sequencing to regenerative biology. In September 2021 Kenny returned to New Zealand as a lecturer (now senior lecturer) in Otago’s Department of Biochemistry. [6]

Research

Kenny’s work combines genomic sequencing, single-cell transcriptomics and comparative phylogenetics to understand how invertebrates diversify, develop and adapt to environmental extremes. His Rutherford Discovery Fellowship project, awarded in 2020, tracks the genetic basis of thermal and acidification resilience in juvenile and larval stages of the taonga species P. canaliculus. [7]

Selected publications

In 2025 Kenny co-authored a Nature Communications article that produced a single-cell atlas of the colonial cnidarian Hydractinia. [8] His recent work also includes studies on multi-stressor impacts on juvenile green-lipped mussels, [9] and on single-cell atlases of spider and annelid development. [10]

Awards and honours

2017 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (European Commission)

2020 – Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (Royal Society Te Apārangi)

References

  1. ↑ "Dr Nathan Kenny – Staff profile". University of Otago. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  2. ↑ "People – IDEA Lab". IDEA Lab, University of Otago. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "Otago Biochemistry welcomes Dr Nathan Kenny". University of Otago News. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Clarendon Scholar class list 2014". University of Oxford. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "Researchers complete first-ever chromosomal-level genome sequencing of a freshwater sponge". Folio. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  6. ↑ "Otago Biochemistry welcomes Dr Nathan Kenny". University of Otago News. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  7. ↑ "Rutherford Discovery Fellowship: Nathan Kenny". Royal Society Te Apārangi. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  8. ↑ Salamanca-Díaz, D. A. (2025). "The Hydractinia cell atlas reveals cellular and molecular principles of cnidarian coloniality". Nature Communications. 16 (1) 2121. Bibcode:2025NatCo..16.2121S. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-57168-z. PMID   40032860.
  9. ↑ Greenhough, H. (2025). "Multi-stressor dynamics: effects of marine heatwave stress and harmful algal blooms on juvenile mussel (Perna canaliculus) survival and physiology". Science of the Total Environment. 964 178590. Bibcode:2025ScTEn.96478590G. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178590.
  10. ↑ Leite, D. J. (2024). "An atlas of spider development at single-cell resolution provides new insights into arthropod embryogenesis". EvoDevo. 15 5. doi: 10.1186/s13227-024-00224-4 . PMID   38730509.

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