Renee Firman

Renee Firman is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Western Australia, with her tenured position beginning in April 2024. She is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow whose research focuses on evolutionary and behavioural ecology, particularly theories of sex allocation, sociality, and sexual selection.

Dr. Firman's research primarily involves studying furry animals, including rodents and marsupials, using both field and laboratory approaches. Through student supervision, she also works with birds and reptiles. Her work places strong emphasis on generating conservation-based outcomes, particularly examining how increased ambient temperatures influence sex allocation and population dynamics, as well as how behavioral responses might help native rodents adapt to Australia's changing climate. Her research expertise spans adaptive sex allocation, sperm sex ratios, sociality, sexual selection, climate change, sperm biology, animal behaviour, reproduction, native rodents, marsupial biology, and wildlife conservation.

Her recent publications reveal a consistent focus on mammalian reproductive biology, particularly in rodents. The works demonstrate her interdisciplinary approach combining evolutionary theory, behavioral ecology, and conservation biology, with particular attention to sperm competition, reproductive success, testes evolution, reproductive physiology, and conservation monitoring of native Australian species.

• Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (2019-2024)
• Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (2014-2018)
• Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-2012)

Dr. Firman has secured over $2 million in research funding, including significant ARC grants totaling $1.5 million. She supervises multiple student projects covering diverse topics from human male fertility to threatened marsupial conservation. Her current research projects include adaptive sex allocation, behavioral resilience to climate variation in native rodents, postmating sexual selection in house mice, and night song in Willie wagtails. She teaches several courses including Biology of Australian Marsupials, Wildlife Conservation and Management, and Behavioural Ecology.

She serves as Vice President Elect for the Australasian Evolution Society (2023) and has previously served on the UWA Animal Ethics Committee and as UWA representative on the Perth Zoo Research Committee.