Overview
Background
I am an ARC Future Fellow with 13 years as an active researcher (2 years academic interruption). My research seeks to bring significant fundamental advances about how animals adapt to changing environments and see its translation into industry and government as a critical aspect of my academic career. A critical part of my research has been the development of innovative genomic tools to enhance the conservation of Australian animals, including the development and validation of [1] non-invasive molecular disease diagnostics tools, [2] next generation sequencing for improved genotyping of DNA extracted from faecal samples , [3] metagenomics as tool for the identification of meta-populations, and most recently [4] airborne eDNA as a tool to monitor threatened species (e.g. koalas and its surrounding mammalian community). I am also a passionate advocate for women in STEM and was named Queensland Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year in 2020 and SuperStar of STEM Science and Technology Australia (2017).
Availability
- Associate Professor Celine Frere is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales
Research interests
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Urban evolutionary ecology
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Social evolution
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Behavioural adaptation
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Conservation
Works
Search Professor Celine Frere’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Journal Article
Koalas, friends and foes—The application of airborne eDNA for the biomonitoring of threatened species
Frere, Celine, Jackson, Nicola, Moreno, Jarred, Oliveros Sandino, Alejandro, Ball, Sarah and Powell, Daniel (2024). Koalas, friends and foes—The application of airborne eDNA for the biomonitoring of threatened species. Journal of Applied Ecology, 61 (11), 2837-2847. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.14784
2024
Journal Article
The genome of the Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), an agamid model for urban adaptation
Powell, Daniel, Jackson, Nicola, Kaur, Parwinder, Dudchenko, Olga, Aiden, Erez Lieberman, Georges, Arthur and Frère, Céline, H. (2024). The genome of the Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), an agamid model for urban adaptation. Journal of Heredity. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esae054
2024
Journal Article
Active crocodiles are less sociable
Baker, Cameron J., Class, Barbara, Dwyer, Ross G., Franklin, Craig E., Campbell, Hamish A., Irwin, Terri R. and Frère, Céline H. (2024). Active crocodiles are less sociable. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379 (1912) 20220528, 20220528. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0528
2024
Journal Article
Century-old chromatin architecture revealed in formalin-fixed vertebrates
Hahn, Erin E., Stiller, Jiri, Alexander, Marina R., Grealy, Alicia, Taylor, Jennifer M., Jackson, Nicola, Frere, Celine H. and Holleley, Clare E. (2024). Century-old chromatin architecture revealed in formalin-fixed vertebrates. Nature Communications, 15 (1) 6378, 1-14. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-50668-4
2024
Journal Article
Social inheritance of avoidances shapes the structure of animal social networks
Frère, Celine H, Class, Barbara, Potvin, Dominique A and Ilany, Amiyaal (2024). Social inheritance of avoidances shapes the structure of animal social networks. Behavioral Ecology, 35 (1) arad088, 1-8. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arad088
2024
Book Chapter
Urbanization, Animals, and Evolution
Jackson, Nicola, Potvin, Dominique, Braham, Kaitlin, Strickland, Kasha and Frère, Celine (2024). Urbanization, Animals, and Evolution. Reference Module in Life Sciences. (pp. 1-1) Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-443-15750-9.00060-4
2023
Other Outputs
Data associated with "Cooling down is as important as warming up for a large-bodied tropical reptile"
Barham, Kaitlin E, Dwyer, Ross G, Frere, Celine H, Bentley, Lily K, Baker, Cameron J, Campbell, Hamish A, Irwin, Terri R and Franklin, Craig E (2023). Data associated with "Cooling down is as important as warming up for a large-bodied tropical reptile". The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/b15b7b4
2023
Journal Article
Influence of scat ageing on the gut microbiome: how old is too old?
Oliveros, Alejandro, Terraube, Julien, Levengood, Alexis L., Powell, Daniel and Frère, Céline H. (2023). Influence of scat ageing on the gut microbiome: how old is too old?. BMC Genomics, 24 (1) 427, 427. doi: 10.1186/s12864-023-09520-0
2023
Journal Article
Adaptive significance of affiliative behaviour differs between sexes in a wild reptile population
Delmé, C., Jackson, N., Class, B., Strickland, K., Potvin, D. A. and Frère, C. H. (2023). Adaptive significance of affiliative behaviour differs between sexes in a wild reptile population. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290 (2001) 20230805, 1-9. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0805
2023
Journal Article
Agonism does not covary with territoriality in a gregarious reptile
Ball, Sarah, Potvin, Dominique A., Class, Barbara and Frère, Celine H. (2023). Agonism does not covary with territoriality in a gregarious reptile. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 77 (6) 73, 1-8. doi: 10.1007/s00265-023-03348-0
2023
Journal Article
Impacts of fungal disease on dyadic social interactions in a wild agamid lizard
Tacey, J., Class, B., Delmé, C., Powell, D. and Frère, C. H. (2023). Impacts of fungal disease on dyadic social interactions in a wild agamid lizard. Animal Behaviour, 200, 125-136. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.04.002
2023
Journal Article
Protected area coverage has a positive effect on koala occurrence in Eastern Australia
Terraube, J., Gardiner, R., Hohwieler, K., Frère, C. H. and Cristescu, R. H. (2023). Protected area coverage has a positive effect on koala occurrence in Eastern Australia. Biodiversity and Conservation, 32 (7), 2495-2511. doi: 10.1007/s10531-023-02615-w
2023
Journal Article
Long-term tracking reveals a dynamic crocodylian social system
Baker, Cameron J., Frère, Céline H., Franklin, Craig E., Campbell, Hamish A., Irwin, Terri R. and Dwyer, Ross G. (2023). Long-term tracking reveals a dynamic crocodylian social system. Animal Behaviour, 199, 59-78. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.02.015
2023
Journal Article
Whole‐mitochondrial genomes of Nannizziopsis provide insights in evolution and detection
Powell, Daniel, Schwessinger, Benjamin and Frère, Céline H. (2023). Whole‐mitochondrial genomes of Nannizziopsis provide insights in evolution and detection. Ecology and Evolution, 13 (3) e9955, 1-8. doi: 10.1002/ece3.9955
2023
Journal Article
Conditional alternative movement tactics in male crocodiles
Barham, Kaitlin E., Baker, Cameron J., Franklin, Craig E., Campbell, Hamish A., Frére, Celine H., Irwin, Terri R. and Dwyer, Ross G. (2023). Conditional alternative movement tactics in male crocodiles. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 77 (3) 31. doi: 10.1007/s00265-023-03303-z
2023
Journal Article
Post-whaling shift in mating tactics in male humpback whales
Dunlop, Rebecca and Frere, Celine (2023). Post-whaling shift in mating tactics in male humpback whales. Communications Biology, 6 (1) 162, 1-11. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04509-7
2023
Journal Article
Evaluating the genetic consequences of population subdivision as it unfolds and how to best mitigate them: a rare story about koalas
Frère, C. H., O’Reilly, G. D., Strickland, K., Schultz, A., Hohwieler, K., Hanger, J., de Villiers, D., Cristescu, R., Powell, D. and Sherwin, W. (2023). Evaluating the genetic consequences of population subdivision as it unfolds and how to best mitigate them: a rare story about koalas. Molecular Ecology, 32 (9), 2174-2185. doi: 10.1111/mec.16877
2023
Journal Article
Small effects of family size on sociality despite strong kin preferences in female bottlenose dolphins
Foroughirad, Vivienne, Frère, Celine H., Levengood, Alexis L., Kopps, Anna M., Krzyszczyk, Ewa and Mann, Janet (2023). Small effects of family size on sociality despite strong kin preferences in female bottlenose dolphins. Animal Behaviour, 195, 53-66. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.10.011
2022
Other Outputs
Influence of scat ageing on the gut microbiome
Oliveros, Alejandro, Terraube, Julien, Levengood, Alexis, Powell, Daniel and Frere, Celine (2022). Influence of scat ageing on the gut microbiome.
2022
Journal Article
Roads and water availability influence the occurrence of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in secondary habitat: a multiscale approach
Gardiner, Riana, Terraube, Julien, Frere, Celine and Cristescu, Romane (2022). Roads and water availability influence the occurrence of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in secondary habitat: a multiscale approach. Biodiversity and Conservation, 32 (1), 1-18. doi: 10.1007/s10531-022-02493-8
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Celine Frere is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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Threatened species conservation
I have PhD projects available which focus on developing new and innovative tools for the conservation of threatened species. These include airborne eDNA and microbiome analyses. Contact me if you are interested in applying genomic tools to advance conservation of animals.
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Social Evolution
I have PhD projects available to study the evolution of sociality using long-term datasets on individuals which include, but not limited to, species like eastern water dragons, dolphins, koalas and many others. I seek PhD students which are keen to work across species using publically available datasets to answer important questions about the evolution of the sharing of relationships.
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Urban Evolution and Emerging Infectious Diseases
I have PhD projects investigating links between urbanisation, animals' immunity and emerging fungal diseases.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Urbanisation and the emergence of wildlife fungal diseases
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Rebecca Cramp, Professor Craig Franklin
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Doctor Philosophy
the role of urbanisation on the emergence of reptile fungal pathogens in Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicola Jackson
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Doctor Philosophy
Social plasticity and maternal effects in dolphins
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Rebecca Dunlop
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Doctor Philosophy
Koalas Poop Plenty: Harnessing the Scat Microbiome as a Conservation Tool
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Franklin
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Doctor Philosophy
Urbanisation and the emergence of wildlife fungal diseases
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Rebecca Cramp, Professor Craig Franklin
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Doctor Philosophy
Social behaviour and emerging fungal diseases in eastern water dragons.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Rebecca Cramp
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Doctor Philosophy
Koalas Poop Plenty: Harnessing the Scat Microbiome as a Conservation Tool
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Franklin
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Doctor Philosophy
airborne eDNA for the management of terrestrial biodiversity
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicola Jackson
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Doctor Philosophy
Estimating disease susceptibility to fungal pathogen in animals
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Katrina McGuigan
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Doctor Philosophy
behaviour, fitness and emerging wildlife fungal diseases
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Rebecca Cramp
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Doctor Philosophy
Mechanisms of disease avoidance in eastern water dragons.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicola Jackson
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding fungal infections in wild reptiles
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Viviana Gonzalez Astudillo
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Doctor Philosophy
Behavioural and physiological responses of a large ectotherm to environmental conditions
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Franklin
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Using spatial ecology to reveal sociality: The movement ecology, behaviour, and social structure of the estuarine crocodile, Crocodylus porosus
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Franklin
Media
Enquiries
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