ABOUT ANDY



I am a comparative and evolutionary physiologist at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada. The aim of my research program is to understand 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. I am also very interested in understanding how intra- and inter-specific differences in respiratory performance and other physiological traits influences behaviours such as habitat choice. My 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 species-rich clade of tropical fishes that includes amphibious species that can survive for months out of water. For more information about these projects, visit my Research page.
I currently hold an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Wilfrid Laurier University, where I'm working with Jonathan Wilson. Previously, I was an Eastburn Postdoctoral Fellow at McMaster University where I worked with Graham Scott and Sigal Balshine, a ReNewZoo Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Windsor where I worked with Trevor Pitcher, and I completed my PhD at the University of Guelph with Patricia Wright.
I am always eager to collaborate, talk about ideas, and share papers - if you would like to chat, please contact me.