Doctor Christopher Turbill

Dr Chris TurbillI joined the HIE in 2012. Prior to this, I spent three and a half years as a postdoctoral fellow at The Research Institute for Wildlife Ecology in Vienna, Austria. In Vienna, I worked primarily with Thomas Ruf and Walter Arnold on a range of experimental and comparative/evolutionary research projects. We carried out a large experimental study to distinguish the effect of food intake and seasonal cues on the heart rate and rumen temperature of red deer. We also studied the effect of daily torpor and hibernation on survival and life history strategies among a large range of mammal species.

I was granted a PhD in 2006 from the University of New England in Armidale NSW, where I supervised by Fritz Geiser. Hence, I can claim to be an outer twig of the illustrious academic lineage of George Bartholomew. During my PhD I studied the thermoregulatory physiology and ecology of Australian tree-roosting bats.

Interspersed with my academic career, I have been employed on several occasions with government conservation departments. After my PhD, I worked as a Project Officer for the NSW Scientific Committee to research nominations of populations, species and ecological communities for listing on the threatened Species Act. Prior to my PhD, I worked for three field seasons conducting vertebrate fauna surveys in the Pilliga Forests, Darling Riverine Plains and elsewhere in central western and northern NSW.

Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

Physiological Ecology; Metabolism and Energy Expenditure, Torpor and Hibernation; Evolution of Life History Strategies; Ecology of Chiroptera (bats); Telomeres as a Biomarker of Ageing

Grants / Current Projects

  • University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna ‘Start-up Project’ EURO €15,000 2010
    ‘Telomere dynamics as an index of biological aging.’ Applicants: S Smith, C Turbill and F Suchentrunk
  • Austrian Science Fund (FWF) ‘Stand-alone Project’ EURO €273,775 2008-11
    Project title: ‘Food availability as a cue for physiological mechanisms of winter energy conservation by red deer (Cervus elaphus).’ Applicants: W Arnold and C Turbill

Memberships and Engagement

  • Society for Experimental Biology
  • Australasian Bat Society
  • Associate Editor for Australian Mammalogy

Selected Publications

Turbill C, Ruf T, Smith S, Bieber C, (2013) 'Seasonal variation in telomere length of a hibernating rodent', Biology Letters, vol.9, no.2, Article no.1095

Bieber C, Juskaitis R, Turbill C, Ruf T, (2012) 'High survival during hibernation affects onset and timing of reproduction', Oecologia, vol.169, no.1, pp 155-166  

Turbill C, Smith S, Deimel C, Ruf T, (2012) 'Daily torpor is associated with telomere length change over winter in Djungarian hamsters', Biology Letters, vol.8, no.2, pp 304-307  

Turbill C, Bieber C, Ruf T, (2011) 'Seasonal dormancy increases survival and is associated with the evolution of slow life histories in hibernating mammals', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Published online: 30.03.2011. (Editor’s Choice, Science 332: p.284)

Smith C, Turbill C, Penn D, (2011) 'Chasing telomeres not red herrings in evolutionary ecology', Heredity, Published online: 16.03.2011.

Turbill C, Ruf T, Mang T, Arnold W, (2011) 'Regulation of heart rate and rumen temperature in red deer: effects of season and food intake', The Journal of Experimental Biology, vol.214, pp 963-970

Turbill C, Ruf T, (2010) 'Senescence is more important in the natural lives of long- than short-lived mammal species', PLoS ONE, vol.5, no.8, article no e12019

Smith S, Turbill C, Suchentrunk F, (2010) 'Introducing mother’s curse: low male fertility associated with an imported mtDNA haplotype in a captive colony of brown hares', Molecular Ecology, vol.19, pp 36-47

Geiser F, Turbill C, (2009) 'Hibernation and daily torpor minimize mammalian extinctions', Naturwissenschaften, vol.96, pp  1235-1240

Stawski C, Turbill C, Geiser F, (2009) 'Hibernation by a free-ranging subtropical bat (Nyctophilus bifax)', Journal of Comparative Physiology B, vol.179, pp 433-441

Turbill C, Körtner G, Geiser F, (2008) 'Timing of the daily temperature cycle affects the critical arousal temperature and energy expenditure of lesser long-eared bats', The Journal of Experimental Biology, vol.211, pp 3871-3878

Turbill C, (2008) 'Winter activity of Australian tree-roosting bats: influence of temperature and climatic patterns', Journal of Zoology, London, vol.276, pp 285-290

Turbill C, Geiser F, (2008) 'Hibernation by tree-roosting bats', Journal of Comparative Physiology B, vol.178, pp 597-605

Turbill C, Geiser F, (2006) 'Thermal physiology of pregnant and lactating female and male long-eared bats, Nyctophilus geoffroyi and N. gouldi', Journal of Comparative Physiology B, vol.176, pp 165-172

Turbill C, Körtner G, Geiser F, (2003) 'Natural use of heterothermy by a small tree-roosting bat during summer', Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, vol.76, pp 868-876

Turbill C, Law BS, Geiser F, (2003) 'Summer torpor in a free-ranging bat from sub-tropical Australia', Journal of Thermal Biology, vol.28, pp 223-226

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