Position Title
Professor and Chair
Education
- B.S., University of Guelph, Canada , 1997 (Marine Biology)
- Ph.D., University of British Columbia, Canada , 2005 (Animal Science & Zoology)
Research Interests
I am an environmental physiologist with an interest in understanding the molecular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms that underlie an animal's capacity to cope with environmental change. I am fascinated by the diversity of physiological specializations (or strategies) used by animals to tolerate particular habitats that others would find very challenging. This interest has led my research to investigate how an animal's physiology and environment interact to structure organismal stress tolerance. My current research program has an eye towards global climate change and addresses the general question of whether contemporary animals have the physiological flexibility necessary to buffer the unprecedented rates of environmental change, specifically their response to changes in multiple environmental variables. My research focuses mainly on aquatic organisms that are distributed along the California coast and estuaries (e.g. limpets, sea urchins, crabs, oysters and intertidal fishes), but extends to Antarctic fishes and aquaculture species.
Graduate Groups
Courses Taught
- Animal Physiology (ANS100)
- Experimental Animal Physiology (ANS 139)
People
Current Graduate Students
- Brittany Davis (nee Bjelde), Ph.D. Program, Animal Biology Graduate Group. Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2018.
- Annelise Del Rio, Ph.D. Program, Ecology Graduate Group. Expected Graduation Date: Summer 2019.
- Erin Flynn, Ph.D. Program, Ecology Graduate Group. Expected Graduation Date: Summer 2018.
- Michaiah Leal, Ph.D. Program, Animal Biology Graduate Group. Expected Graduation Date: Summer 2019.
Past Graduate Students
- Madeline Kinsey, M.S. Program, Animal Biology Graduate Group. Expected Graduation Date: Winter 2016.
Selected Publications
Todgham, A.E., Stillman, J.H. 2013. Physiological responses to shifts in multiple environmental stressors: Relevance in a changing world. Integr. Comp. Biol. 53:539-544.
Bjelde, B.E.*, Todgham, A.E. 2013. Thermal physiology of the fingered limpet Lottia digitalis under emersion and immersion. J. Exp. Biol. 216:2858-2869.
Kültz, D., Clayton, D.F., Robinson, G.E., Albertson, C., Carey, H.V., Cummings, M.V., Dewar, K., Edwards, S.V., Hofmann, H.A., Gross, L.J., Kingsolver, J.G., Meaney, M.J., Schlinger, B.A., Shingleton, A.W., Sokolowski, M.B., Somero, G.N., Stanzione, D.C., and Todgham, A.E. 2013. New frontiers for organismal biology. BioScience 63:464-471.
Fangue, N.A., Osborne, E.J. #, Todgham, A.E. and Schulte, P.M. 2011. The onset temperature of the heat-shock response and whole-organism thermal tolerance are tightly correlated in both laboratory-acclimated and field-acclimatized tidepool sculpins (Oligocottus maculosus). Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 84:341-352.
Hofmann, G.E. and Todgham, A.E. 2010. Living in the now: Physiological mechanisms to tolerate a rapidly changing environment. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 72:127-145.
O’Donnell, M.J., Todgham, A.E., Sewell, M.A., Hammond, L.M.*¥, Ruggiero, K., Fangue, N.A., Zippay, M.L.* and Hofmann, G.E. 2010. Ocean acidification alters skeletogenesis and gene expression in larval sea urchins. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 398:157-171.
Todgham, A.E. and Hofmann, G.E. 2009. Transcriptomic response of sea urchin larvae Strongylocentrotus purpuratus to CO2-driven seawater acidification. J. Exp. Biol. 212: 2579-2594.
Hofmann, G.E., O’Donnell, M.J. and Todgham, A.E. 2008. Using functional genomics to explore the impacts of ocean acidification on calcifying marine organisms. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 373:219-225.
Todgham, A.E., Hoaglund, E.A. and Hofmann, G.E. 2007. Is cold the new hot?: Elevated ubiquitin conjugated protein levels in tissues of Antarctic fish as evidence for cold-denaturation of proteins in vivo. J. Comp. Physiol. B 177:857-866.
Todgham, A.E., Iwama, G.K. and Schulte, P.M. 2006. Effect of the natural tidal cycle and artificial tempeature cycling on Hsp levels in tidepool sculpins, Oligocottus maculosus. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 79: 1033-1045.
Todgham, A.E., Schulte, P.M. and Iwama, G.K. 2005. Cross-tolerance in the tidepool sculpin: the role of heat shock proteins. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 78:133-144.