Profile: Amy Edwards, UTAS zoologist exploring sex selection to benefit animals

In a new series at Campus Review, we visit with academics and researchers to discuss their studies. To Hobart today with Amy Edwards – zoologist, ecologist and animal lover formerly of UQ, now at UTas and heading to La Trobe. CR: Where are you based and what do you do? AE: I am a post-doctoral researcher based at the University of Tasmania. What is your educational background? I began my studies at the University of Queensland in 2007, where I undertook a bachelor of science, majoring in zoology and ecology. In 2010, I completed my honours research year at UQ, investigating anti-predator behaviours in Eastern Grey Kangaroos. In 2012, I moved to the University of Tasmania to undertake my PhD investigating physiological constraints on maternal sex allocation in mammals. I completed my PhD in March this year. Why did you choose this path of study? As a child I loved animals, and always wanted to be a vet when I grew up. In high school, I imagined myself as a marine biologist, working with dolphins and whales (which I’d still love to do!). Now, I’m not sure what I want to be when I grow up, but I know it will be amazing! You are researching gender/sex selection in babies – can you provide an overview of the findings? For many years, researchers have been looking at why some mother’s produce biased sex ratios of offspring. Generally, we know that comes down to the current environment and its influence on the mother’s physiology at the time of conception, but there seems to be a lot variation between mothers, and between species. My work looks at what’s driving this variation, and I’m investigating whether there are things that could be constraining a mother’s response to her environment. During late gestation, the physiology of a female baby is being developed, and the environment that her mother experiences can influence her physiology for the rest of her life. I lowered the stress levels of pregnant mice, and when their daughters grew up, the alterations to their physiology meant that they produced a lot more daughters than sons of their own. So it’s not the environment at conception that changed her sex ratio, it was her baseline physiology. Without knowing about the decreased stress that her mother experienced, we wouldn’t know why she was producing biased sex ratios! Why is this important to you? The future of many of our critically endangered species relies on breeding programs and captive colonies. It’s important to know how stress influences the animals beyond the normal day-to-day stress behaviours that we see (pacing, feather pulling, etc.). Further to this, many animals produce skewed sex ratios, and this can have detrimental effects on the future of the program. Knowing what drives these skews and being able to correct them safely would greatly improve the success of the program. It also bothers me that so many animals are killed at birth purely because they were born male (or female). Almost all male poddy calves in the dairy industry will be slaughtered; some will be used for veal and other products, but many are wastage. Industries like this, which rely solely on female or male animals would benefit from the knowledge of how to safely skew their offspring sex ratios. What’s next in your academic career? In September, I will leave the little island of Tassie and travel across to the big smoke. I have been lucky enough to secure a post-doctoral fellowship at La Trobe University in Melbourne. I hope to take my research further by continuing my studies in sperm sex ratios, and moving onto marsupial, as well as mammalian, models. What book are you reading at the moment? I’m an absolute sucker for trashy romances! I’m reading See Me by Nicholas Sparks. What are your three favourite films? The Lion King: I’m a '90s kid, so Disney is where it’s at for me! The Lion King is also my favourite Broadway show! Fern Gully: set in a rainforest in Australia, it shows the destruction of fairies and animals by humans, logging companies and the evil villain, Hexxus, who lives off their pollution. It was originally released in 1992, ahead of its time; it was one of my childhood favourites! Titanic: again with the romantic dramas, I had a huge crush on Jack Dawson when I was a teenager! What was your first concert? And what was your most recent? My first concert was a festival; it was Splendour in the Grass at Byron Bay in 2007. My most recent was Passenger as part of his 2015 Whispers tour, which probably ranks as one of my favourites. What’s the best holiday you’ve been on? I have been to so many amazing places around the world. Southern Africa: Safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa; diving with the dolphins in southern Mozambique; and with the fur seals in Cape Town, also in South Africa. Road trip around California visiting all the National Parks, including Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Sequoia, Yosemite and Big Sur. What’s your favourite food and drink? My mum makes amazing crumbed steak and potato bake. And I secretly love milk (plain or chocolate!). On that note, I also love chocolate. What’s your ultimate Sunday Funday activity? I enjoy camping and hiking with friends somewhere secluded. Maybe where there’s a beach, or a giant mountain, just us and nature. Last Sunday, we were camped on the west coast of Tassie – such an amazing location – pods of dolphins, giant mountains, endless rugged wilderness: it has it all. If you would like to nominate an academic or researcher – even yourself (No one will ever know!) – to be profiled and have their work featured, please email the news editor.