Jennifer Burns

Jennifer Burns serves as Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University, where she leads research on physiological adaptations of polar marine mammals to extreme environments. Her work bridges laboratory investigations with field studies in Antarctica, focusing on species like Weddell seals as models for understanding fundamental biological principles under climate change stressors.

Dr. Burns' research centers on three interconnected pillars: physiological development in juvenile marine mammals, the relationship between physiological condition and diving performance, and how life history events reflect individual condition and environmental variables. Her laboratory employs multidisciplinary approaches including hormone assays, dive recorder analysis, and virological screening to unravel how polar species regulate energy allocation, thermoregulation, and foraging strategies in seasonal ecosystems. This work has direct implications for predicting ecosystem responses to habitat loss and prey shifts in the Antarctic.

Analysis of her 2021-2025 publications reveals escalating integration of physiological data with conservation frameworks, particularly through studies on habitat shifts in crabeater seals and global movement patterns of marine megafauna. A significant emerging thread involves viral ecology, with multiple papers identifying novel anelloviruses, papillomaviruses, and circoviruses in Antarctic seal populations. Methodological innovation remains strong, exemplified by tools for reconstructing historic dive traces and 3D-printed tracking devices.

Dr. Burns directs externally funded projects including NSF-supported research using Weddell seals as autonomous oceanographic sensors in the Ross Sea and collaborative studies on maternal iron transfer in grey seal pups. Her laboratory operates within Texas Tech's STEM CORE initiative, facilitating fieldwork in Antarctica through partnerships with national science foundations and international polar research programs.

The Burns Lab maintains active field operations in Antarctica, utilizing instrumented seals to collect hydrographic data while investigating seasonal changes in body condition, hormone profiles, and viral loads. Current projects emphasize the intersection of climate-driven habitat alterations with physiological thresholds, particularly examining how reduced sea ice affects lactation energetics and pup development in ice-dependent species.