Welcome to the Turko Lab in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph. The aim of our research program is understanding how animals integrate physiological and behavioural responses to changing environments, how these responses evolve, and what happens when these responses feed back upon one another. A major focus is understanding the mechanics and plasticity of fish respiration and what this means for performance in different environments. We are also very interested in understanding how intra- and inter-specific differences in respiratory performance and other physiological traits influences behaviours such as habitat choice. This work takes a highly comparative approach and is focused around two model systems: (1) North American cyprinids, especially the endangered redside dace, and (2) the rivuline killifishes, a group that includes amphibious species that can survive for months out of water. For more information, visit the Research page.

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