Research in the Department of Zoology
The Zoology Department has a vigorous research program with interests ranging from the structure and function of single cells through to the ecology, reproduction, development and evolution of animals. The department has particular strengths and expertise in animal behaviour and evolution, ecology, conservation and wildlife biology, marine biology, and marsupial reproduction and development. The Department of Zoology is also a major contributor to the Faculty’s Environmental Science programs.
We have a senior research staff of thirty, supervising over eighty graduate and honours students. The staff have developed strong links with the Melbourne Museum, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Zoo, CSIRO and several medical research institutions.
The Department of Zoology receives over million in research funding annually, coming mainly from the ARC, NHMRC, and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. It has a range of sophisticated laboratories and equipment housed in a modern building. These include: light, inverted, confocal, fluorescence, scanning, and transmission electron microscopes; large freshwater and recirculating marine aquaria; three dedicated molecular biology laboratories; and animal holding facilities for a range of terrestrial organisms. The department is a partner in a consortium that operates the Queenscliff Marine Station with the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute and four other universities. The Station provides a high level training facility for students, and access to specialised facilities for researchers.
The Zoology Department has a vigorous research program with interests ranging from the structure and function of single cells through to the ecology, reproduction, development and evolution of animals, with special expertise in the following areas:
Animal Behaviour and Evolution:
How evolutionary forces have shaped social behaviour, mating and communication systems; in animals as diverse as brightly coloured birds and cannibalistic spiders.
Conservation and Australian Wildlife Biology:
The ecology, behaviour and habitat requirements and population management of Australia's unique endemic fauna.
Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research (CESAR):
How ecosystems are stressed by factors such as pollution, salinity, land clearance and fire.
Centre for Kangaroo Genomics (KanGO):
To characterise part of the genome of the model marsupial Macropus eugenii (the tammar wallaby), in order to enable Australian scientists to make a uniquely valuable Australian input into comparative genomics.
Marine Ecology and Physiology:
The interactions of a myriad of ocean-dwelling organisms such bryozoans, fish, abalone and crustaceans with their environment, and the effects of disturbance, pollution and fisheries on their abundance.
Reproductive Physiology and Development:
Our research focuses on reproduction and development of mammals, especially marsupials and the application of these studies in basic, conservation and biomedical research.