Background
I completed my undergraduate studies in Botany and Zoology at Monash University where I obtained a BSc(Honours) in 1998. I then obtained his PhD.
in Zoology at the University of Sydney under the guidance of Prof. Richard Shine in 2004. This included a one year Fulbright fellowship the USA where I collaborated with Prof. Kellar Autumn at Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon, and Prof. Warren Porter at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. I then took up an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research (CESAR) from 2004-2006. I joined the Zoology Department as a lecturer in 2007.
Research
The impact of climate on animals
My research in this field is focused on understanding how climate impacts on the distribution and abundance of terrestrial animals. My approach combines laboratory and field investigations of ecophysiology and behaviour. A particular focus is on developing trait-based, mechanistic models that enable predictions of distributions under current and future climates with GIS data. I have been working with Prof. Warren Porter at The University of Wisconsin to develop computer programs that use energy balance equations and microclimate models to predict how traits (behaviour, morphology and physiology) of organisms interact with climatic conditions to affect key fitness components such as potential activity time, development and growth rates, water balance and food requirements. Importantly, this trait-based approach makes it possible to incorporate evolutionary change. Current and widely-used regression-based approaches to this problem are unable to incorporate evolution because they use the distribution points of the organism as a starting point rather than its traits. The trait-based models we are developing work for any kind of ectotherm or endotherm and hold great promise for enhancing our understanding of the adaptive significance of climate-sensitive traits, for looking at selection gradients across landscapes, and of course for predicting the impact of climate change.
The evolution of parthenogenesis
The maintenance of sexual reproduction is regarded as a major unsolved problem in evolutionary biology. My research has focused on species that have secondarily lost sexual reproduction and instead reproduce by parthenogenesis. There are strong geographical and genetic correlates of the transition from sex to parthenogenesis. Specifically their distributions are often biased towards high latitudes, high altitudes or arid environments. For instance, in the Australian arid zone, we find multiple instances of parthenogenesis in lizards, insects and plants. Parthenogenetic organisms are also very often polypoids, hybrids or both.
I am interested in extent to which the ecological and geographical tendencies of parthenogenetic organisms are influenced by hybridization and by polyploidy. We need to answer this question if we are to truly understand the relevance of naturally parthenogenetic organisms to the paradox of sex. I approach this question using a number of parthenogenetic organisms from the Australian arid zone, including the grasshopper Warramaba virgo, the stick insects Sipyloidea nelida and S. similis, and the gecko Heteronotia binoei. I combine phylogeographic analysis, life-history and ecophysiological studies to compare the ecology and evolution of the parthenogenetic lineages with that of their sexual progenitors. An exciting prospect in this research is the ability, at least in W. virgo, to artificially synthesize hybrid and polyploid lineages. My collaborators in this reserach are Prof. Craig Mortiz (The University of Califorina, Berkeley) and Dr. Mark Blacket (The University of Melbourne).
Find out more about Michael Kearney's experience
Michael Kearney's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
The roles of acclimation and behaviour in buffering climate change impacts along elevational gradients
Read moreMichael Kearney's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 22 most recent projects by Michael Kearney.
Project Types
17
Research Grant
3
Research Contracts
2
Internal Research Grant
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 155 most recent scholarly works by Michael Kearney.
News
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Honours, Awards and Fellowships
Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2018
Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2017
The HG Andrewartha Medal
Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2016
Thomson Reuters Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015
Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2015
Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2014
Recognition of Achievement for a Research Paper
Australian Research Fellowship
Future Fellowship (declined)
David Syme Research Prize for research in Biology, Chemistry, Geology or Physics
Deans Award for Excellence in Research
Award for best PhD thesis
Comparative Meeting Travel Award
Australian-American Fulbright Award
Australian Postgraduate Award
A R Wallace Prize for Best Honours Thesis
Vice-Chancellor?s Undergraduate Research Scholarship
1st Year Earth Science Prize
Credentials
Positions
Professor
Biosciences
Member
Ecological Society of Australia
Secretary
Victorian Fulbright Alumni
Secretary
Australian Society of Herpetologists
Member
Genetics Society of Australia
Member
Australasian Society for the Study of Evolution
Member
Australian Society of Herpetologists
Assistant Secretary
100 Acres Reserve Advisory Committee
Secretary
Monash Biological Society
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Sydney
Bachelor of Science (Honours)
Monash University