Christine Cooper
Senior Lecturer
Department of Environment and Agriculture
Curtin University
Australia
Biography
Dr Christine Cooper is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Environment and Agriculture. Her area of expertise is in vertebrate ecophysiology, with a particular emphasis on native Australian birds and mammals.
Research Interest
My research interests and expertise are in the comparative ecophysiology of Australian vertebrates. I am interested primarily in the thermal, energy and water balance of terrestrial vertebrate animals, and the influence of phylogeny, body mass, life history and environmental factors on these physiological traits. My specific research projects to date have focused on the metabolic, water and thermal physiology of birds and mammals. I specialise in the measurement of metabolic rate (oxygen consumption rate, carbon dioxide production rate) and evaporative water loss using flow-through respirometry, ventilatory parameters using whole-body plethysmography, body temperature by radio-telemetry or implanted data loggers, and digestive and dietary characteristics using calorimetry. I have particular experience in the capture, handling, husbandry and study of native Australian terrestrial vertebrates. To facilitate my research I have developed expertise in practical and analytical skills such as basic computer programming (VB), formal phylogenetic analysis (Autoregression, PVR, IC, PLSR) and statistical analyses.
Publications
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Cooper, C. E., P. C. Withers, A. Hardie, and F. Geiser. 2016. "Marsupials don't adjust their thermal energetics for life in an alpine environment." Temperature (Austin) 3 (3): 484-498.
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Cooper, C. E. 2017. "Endocrinology of osmoregulation and thermoregulation of Australian desert tetrapods: A historical perspective." General and Comparative Endocrinology 244: 186-200.
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Douglas, T. K., C. E. Cooper, and P. C. Withers. 2017. "Avian torpor or alternative thermoregulatory strategies for overwintering?." Journal of Experimental Biology 220 (7): 1341-1349.
