I am broadly interested in stress and reproduction and the interactions between these two facets of an animal’s life history.
Animals are bombarded with challenges – predation, food availability, diseases and parasites, social conflicts, pollution. I am interested in understanding not only how animals deal with these stressors, but also the degree of individual variation and phenotypic plasticity in coping strategies. Individual animals exhibit consistent differences in behaviour and physiology; they have personalities, or unique stress coping styles. Despite an increasing number of studies devoted to this subject, we still have a very poor understanding of the evolutionary and ecological implications of different stress coping styles. I hope to contribute to our understanding of the broader significance of these individual differences. How does stress coping style relate to fitness? Is there an "optimal" coping strategy for a population, or does it vary depending on the ecological context?
In responding to a stressor, animals often experience physiological trade-offs, either due to energetic or physiological limitations. Under these constraints, animals must make critical decisions about how to allocate energy. The prioritization of physiological systems – which are down-regulated and which are up-regulated – may vary depending on properties of the stressor (type, duration, intensity) and/or properties of the animal (sex, life history stage, body condition, social status). Understanding how trade-offs are mediated contributes to our understanding of basic biological processes and can have useful application value, as well.
Examples of research projects include:
Animals are bombarded with challenges – predation, food availability, diseases and parasites, social conflicts, pollution. I am interested in understanding not only how animals deal with these stressors, but also the degree of individual variation and phenotypic plasticity in coping strategies. Individual animals exhibit consistent differences in behaviour and physiology; they have personalities, or unique stress coping styles. Despite an increasing number of studies devoted to this subject, we still have a very poor understanding of the evolutionary and ecological implications of different stress coping styles. I hope to contribute to our understanding of the broader significance of these individual differences. How does stress coping style relate to fitness? Is there an "optimal" coping strategy for a population, or does it vary depending on the ecological context?
In responding to a stressor, animals often experience physiological trade-offs, either due to energetic or physiological limitations. Under these constraints, animals must make critical decisions about how to allocate energy. The prioritization of physiological systems – which are down-regulated and which are up-regulated – may vary depending on properties of the stressor (type, duration, intensity) and/or properties of the animal (sex, life history stage, body condition, social status). Understanding how trade-offs are mediated contributes to our understanding of basic biological processes and can have useful application value, as well.
Examples of research projects include:
Stress Coping Styles
- Magnitude of stress response predicts post-release survival in reintroduced Canada lynx
- Individual variation in behavioural and physiological responses to novel stimuli in chickens
- Effect of maternal stress coping styles on offspring behaviour and physiology in guppies
- Challenges and considerations for applying the comparative approach to stress physiology
Sexual Selection
- GxE effects on development of fruit flies and consequences for mating success
- Mechanisms of cryptic female choice in Gouldian finches
- Parasite-mediated sexual selection in Eastern water skinks
Trade-offs
- Effect of nutritional environment on the trade-off between reproduction, immune function, and lifespan in Queensland fruit flies
- Relationship between growth rate, behaviour, and immune function in yabbies
- Trade-off between foraging and vigilance behaviour in rock hyrax
Animal Conservation and Welfare
- Effect of housing and husbandry practices on levels of adrenal activity in Canada lynx
- How human activity influences patterns of hormone expression in wild Canada lynx
- Response of gorillas and kangaroos to number of zoo visitors and noise levels
- Adrenal activity in Northern hairy-nosed wombats
- Visual contact with zoo visitors affects aggression and stress levels in black-capped capuchin
Reproductive Physiology
- The role of the adrenal gland in normative ovarian function in Asian elephants
- The dynamics of persistent corpora lutea in Canada lynx
- Effect of deslorelin on morphology, endocrinology, and behaviour in adult male lions
- Routine reproductive monitoring (ovarian cycling, pregnancy checks) in Asian elephants, cheetahs, black rhinos, hippos, lions, tigers, Asian short-clawed otters, greater one-horned rhinos, common marmosets