I am wildlife biologist fascinated by the physiological, ecological and behavioural responses of small mammals to different environmental constraints. I have studied a range of non-model systems to investigate broad ecological patterns and their underlying physiological mechanisms using field- and laboratory-based techniques. These include possum thermoregulatory biology; the energetic and spatial ecology of squirrels and hedgehogs; and the hibernation patterns, behaviour and pathophysiology of microbats affected by the fungal disease white-nose syndrome. My research program is integrative in nature, examining broad concepts by asking questions at multiple levels of organisation and examining mechanisms underlying observed ecological patterns, giving it wide conservation applications.

My research focusses on questions related to:

1) The impacts of heatwaves on animal biology, particularly ecological, physiological and behavioural responses to environmental stress experienced in the landscape

2) Ecological consequences of changing environmental conditions, including animal thermoregulatory flexibility in response to immediate and seasonal weather and long-term climate patterns, and their implications for species conservation

3) Temporal organisation of phenotypic expression, including factors driving circadian and circannual patterns of observed ecophysiological and behavioural responses to energetic limitation.

I am a member of the Alexander von Humboldt Network.

I have taught environmental biology to undergraduate and postgraduate students at several different levels, encompassing topics from introductory zoology to animal ecophysiology, wildlife conservation, animal behaviour and urban ecology. I have also taught specialised courses in thermal ecophysiology and spatial ecology.

Currently, I am teaching aspects of Wildlife Biology (BIOL09037), Vertebrate Physiology (BIOL08001), Behavioural Ecology (BIOL10011) and Environmental Research Project (BIOL10026).