Welcome to the Speers-Roesch Lab
Ecophysiology of Marine Animals
Environmental and evolutionary physiology of aquatic animals | Function and performance of animals living in challenging environments
Physiological reaction, acclimation, and adaptation to environment | Mechanisms and significance of physiological diversity
Fish physiology and biochemistry | Metabolic and cardiorespiratory physiology | Energy metabolism | Thermal biology
Hypoxia adaptation | Metabolic rate depression | Biology of sharks and their relatives
Physiological reaction, acclimation, and adaptation to environment | Mechanisms and significance of physiological diversity
Fish physiology and biochemistry | Metabolic and cardiorespiratory physiology | Energy metabolism | Thermal biology
Hypoxia adaptation | Metabolic rate depression | Biology of sharks and their relatives
Environmental change can challenge the persistence of animals by limiting function and performance. My research program uses whole-animal, physiological, and biochemical approaches to explore two fundamental questions. First, how do physiological responses allow animals to function, perform, and persist in challenging environments, such as hypoxic or frigid waters? Second, what are the physiological linkages between environmental variability, organismal function and performance, and ecological and evolutionary patterns? Some examples of our recent research include investigations into how some fishes cope with winter by hibernating, and how the hearts of hypoxia-tolerant fishes continue to function under low levels of oxygen while those of hypoxia-sensitive fishes fail. A common thread emerging from our research is the importance of metabolism, and the cardiorespiratory system that sustains it, as key mediators of the tolerance or sensitivity of animals to environmental change.
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Dr. Ben Speers-Roesch Professor Department of Biological Sciences University of New Brunswick Saint John, NB, Canada Canadian Rivers Institute 203 [email protected] +1 506-638-2484 |
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