Rebecca Cramp

Dr. Rebecca Cramp is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of the Environment, University of Queensland, where she works as a comparative and environmental physiologist. Her research investigates how environmental factors constrain the physiology of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and reptiles, with a focus on conservation physiology—an emerging field addressing organismal responses to anthropogenic threats and environmental change.

• Academic Affiliation: University of Queensland
• Research Themes: Osmo- and ion-regulation, digestive and thermal physiology, immune function, disease susceptibility, and animal performance in human-modified environments
• Key Collaborations: Professor Craig Franklin, Dr. Coen Hird, Dr. Niclas Lundsgaard

Cramp’s work explores ecophysiological constraints under current and future environmental conditions, emphasizing osmoregulation, thermal adaptation, and interactions between UV radiation, hypoxia, and temperature stress. Her research spans fundamental physiological mechanisms and applied conservation strategies, including dietary interventions for aquaculture species and assessments of UV impacts on amphibians.

Recent studies analyze thermal and UV stress in Salmo salar, Lates calcarifer, and Limnodynastes terraereginae, alongside meta-analyses of UV-B effects on vertebrates. She contributes to understanding how organisms acclimatize to environmental extremes and anthropogenic disturbances, particularly in aquatic ecosystems.

Cramp supervises PhD students in areas such as nutritional immunology of cold stress, social behavior and fungal diseases, and urbanization impacts on wildlife health, collaborating with experts in aquaculture and conservation biology.