PAST RESEARCH
NICHOLAS WU
Ecological Physiologist at Western Sydney University, Australia
0000-0002-7130-1279
VOLUNTEER WORK
Various skink projects
Field work assistant - New South Wales, Australia
Investigator:
Various researchers
About:
I assisted with capturing skinks for various researchers from the University of Sydney and the Australian National University around Australia.
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Species:
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Three-toed skink (Saiphos squalis)
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Delicate skink (Lampropholis delicata)
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Weasel skink (Saproscincus mustelinus)
Dragon quest
Field work assistant - New South Wales, Australia
Investigator:
Mitchell Hodgson (PhD student)
About:
I assisted Mitch (University of New South Wales) with capturing jacky dragons for his study exploring the relationship of long-term and short-term climate in expressing thermal phenotypes by comparing differences thermal physiology across a model species range. His research also aims to investigate temporal variation in thermal physiology and plasticity in the ability of animals to acclimate to different thermal environments.
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Species:
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Jacky dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus)
Perentie spatial ecology
Field work assistant - Northern Territory, Australia
Investigator:
Sean Doody (Assistant professor) & Simon Clulow (Postdoc fellow)
About:
I volunteered for Sean Doody (University of South Florida) and Simon Clulow (Maquarie University) to capture and radio-track perenties in Central Australia. I worked with a team of four field technicians to explore the home range, habitat preferences, and predict their spatial proximity and tolerance towards one-another in these large, arid ectotherms. Additionally, questions relating to seasonal differences, and size and sex habitat preferences can be examined.
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Species:
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Perentie (Varanus giganteus)
Various fish projects
Franklin ECO-Lab - Brisbane, Australia
Photo by C. Baker
Photo by N. Wu
Investigator:
Rebecca L. Cramp (Senior research officer) & Jabin Watson (Senior research officer)
About:
I volunteered with various fish projects in the Franklin ECO-lab such as 1) mechanisms of salinity tolerance in juvenile barramundi, 2) thermal tolerance of juvenile mary river cods, and 3) optimizing baffle designs for effective fish passage through culverts.
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Species:
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Barramundi (Lates calcarifer)
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Mary river cod (Maccullochella mariensis)
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Fly-speckled hardyheads (Craterocephalus stercusmuscarum)
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Agassiz's glassfish (Ambassis agassizii)
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Southern purplespotted gudgeon (Mogurnda adspersa)
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Eel-tailed catfish (Tandanus tandanus)
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Silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus)
Glenmorgan lizard hunt
Field work assistant - Queensland, Australia
Investigator:
Bob Cieri (PhD candidate) & Christofer Clemente (Senior lecturer)
About:
I volunteered for Bob Cieri (University of Utah) and Christofer Clemente (University of Sunshine Coast) to capture lizards for various experiments. Bob Cieri works on the evolutionary biomechanical properties of reptilian lungs, and had come to Australia to collect and scan a number of varanid lungs for this PhD project. I also helped Christofer Clemente collect various lizards to examine climbing performance for his lizard robot project. This field work was also successful with the help from Taylor Dick and Jojo Schultz. Acknowledged in Cieri (2018).
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Species:
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Yellow-spotted monitor (Varanus panoptes)
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Sand goanna (Varanus gouldii)
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Lace monitor (Varanus varius)
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Eastern bearded dragon (Pogona barbata)
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Dubious dtella (Gehyra dubia)
Nest activity & energy expenditure of hatchling sea turtles
Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU) - Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) eggs collected for relocation to a safer site. U. Rusli
Newly emerged green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). N. Wu
Setting up respirometry for measuring digging metabolic rate. N. Wu
Female green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) returning to the sea post-nesting. U. Rusli
A young hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) in outdoor enclosure. N. Wu
Investigator:
Uzair Rusli (PhD candidate)
About:
I volunteered with the long-term tagging and in-situ egg incubation research program for marine turtles of Chagar Hutang Beach, Redang Island in Malaysia. Activities include monitoring nesting sea turtle activities, egg development and hatchling emergence. I briefly aided in the respirometry set-up to examine the energetic cost of nest escape, and co-wrote a paper on tonic immobility in juvenile sea turtles (see publication section).
More info:
Species:
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Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
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Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)