Our research is focused on how temperature and activity affect insect metabolism. This is essential to understand how species have evolved to survive in their surroundings, and how they will continue to adapt in a changing world. Understanding the physiology and behavior of individual organisms is crucial to this endeavor.
Metabolic rate can be measured directly by measuring heat production, or indirectly by measuring the consumption of oxygen or the production of carbon dioxide. Although it is technically possible to measure heat production by an organism as small as a fruit fly, indirect methods are used more commonly. The current challenges to measuring metabolism on this scale will include cost, environmental stability, and reliability.
Commercially available systems are reliable, stable, and relatively easy to purchase, but they can be complex and expensive. DIY manometers are inexpensive, but can introduce error and require fabrication for each experiment. The coulometric respirometer is relatively inexpensive, easy to use, provides a convenient readout of environmental parameters, and all components are reusable.
In addition, the regular replacement of oxygen maintains a stable environment for hours or even days. In the lab, we'll be studying the metabolic variation between established control strains of drosophila, and the effects of hyper and hypoactive mutants on oxygen consumption. In the field, we'll begin studying the metabolic rates and temperature tolerance of wild, desert-adapted beetles.
