After many years in the School of the Medicine, which included a period as Deputy Head of School and Associate Head of Medical Sciences, I transferred to the School of Zoology at the beginning of 2007.
Research Interests
My research interests are in the broad area of comparative physiology, and I have published principally in the area of energetics, thermoregulation and respiration. I use a combination of field and laboratory studies to build a comprehensive picture of the energy relationships of animals with their environment.
Recent work has been on the ecophysiology of monotremes (platypus, echidna). Studies on the echidna have focussed on hibernation and have shown that rather than being a response to extreme cold and absence of food, which is the case with most northern hemisphere hibernators, echidna hibernation is a more flexible means of reducing energy expenditure during relative energy shortages. This eco-physiological work has led to a broader interest in life-history, reproduction, and population genetics.
Echidna research
Research Areas:- Comparative Endocrinology and Ecophysiology
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Teaching
My main teaching responsibilities in the School of Zoology are in KZA212 (Functional Biology of Animals)
Some potential Honours projects
UnitsSelected Publications:- Nicol SC, Andersen NA, 2007, 'The life history of an egg-laying mammal, the echidna.
', Ecoscience, In Press
- Nicol SC, Andersen NA, 2007, 'Cooling rates and body temperature regulation of hibernating echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus). ', Journal of Experimental Biology , In Press
- Nicol SC, Andersen NA , 2007, 'Rewarming rates and thermogenesis in hibernating echidnas. ', Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, In Press
- Nicol SC, Andersen NA, 2006, 'Body temperature as an indicator of egg-laying in the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. ', Journal of Thermal Biology, 31, pgs. 483-490
- Nicol SC, Andersen NA, Jones SM, 2005, 'Seasonal variations in reproductive hormones of free-ranging echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus): interaction between reproduction and hibernation. ', General and Comparative Endocrinology, 144, pgs. 204-210
- Schmid J, Andersen NA, Speakman JR, Nicol SC , 2003, 'Field energetics of free-living, lactating and non-lactating echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
', Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 136, pgs. 903-909
- Buttemer WA, Nicol SC, Sharman A, 2003, 'Thermoenergetics of pre-moulting and moulting kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae): they're laughing. ', Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 173, pgs. 223-230
Current and Supervised Project/s:
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