Connie O'Connor

Education: 

BSc (Biology and English Literature), McGill University, 2006

Research Interests:

My research interests are diverse and have implications for both basic and applied science.  From a basic science perspective, I have been exploring mechanisms underlying important animal behaviours, such as reproductive and parental care behaviour.  On the more applied end, I investigate in the links between life history, physiology and fitness, particularly as they relate to population dynamics, stock management, and conservation issues in wild animals.  I strive to use integrative and interdisciplinary approaches in my research that both address basic scientific questions, and contribute solutions to applied problems.  While my research to date has focused on fishes, I am interested in how these research themes apply to all vertebrates.

Keywords:

Ecology, behavioural ecology, behaviour, life history, stress, anthropogenic stress, conservation biology, parental care, biochemistry, physiology, endocrinology, cortisol, glucocorticoid, corticosteroid, androgen, hormone

Contact Info

Email: coconno4@connect.carleton.ca

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/constanceoconnor/

Publications:

O’Connor, C.M., Gilmour, K.M., Van Der Kraak, G., and Cooke, S.J.  In press.  Circulating androgens are influenced by parental nest defense in a wild teleost fish.  Journal of Comparative Physiology A 00: 000-000.

Donaldson, M.R., Danylchuk, S.E., Duplain, R.R., Gingerich, A.J., O’Connor, C.M., Thompson, L.A., and Cooke, S.J.  In press.  Contrasting global game and non-game fish species.  Fisheries 00: 000-000.

O’Connor, C.M., Gilmour, K.M., Arlinghaus, R., Matsumura, S., Suski, C.D., Philipp, D.P., and Cooke, S.J.  In press.  The consequences of short-term cortisol elevation on individual physiology and growth rate in wild largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides).  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 00: 000-000.

Dey, C.J. and O’Connor, C.M.  2011.  Evidence for a lack of egg recognition in pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus: Rallidae).  Notornis 57: 209-211.

O’Connor, C.M., Yick, C.Y., Gilmour, K.M., Van Der Kraak, G., and Cooke, S.J.  2011.  The glucocorticoid stress response is attenuated but unrelated to reproductive investment during parental care in a teleost fish.  General and Comparative Endocrinology 170: 215-221.

O’Connor, C.M., Gilmour, K.M., Arlinghaus, R., Philipp, D.P., Hasler, C.T., and Cooke, S.J.  2010.  Seasonal carryover effects following the administration of cortisol to a wild teleost fish.  Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 83: 950-957.

Dey, C.J., O’Connor, C.M., Gilmour, K.M., Van Der Kraak, G., and Cooke, S.J.  2010.  Behavioral and physiological responses of a wild teleost fish to cortisol and androgen manipulation during parental care.  Hormones and Behavior 58: 599-605.

Cooke, S.J. and O’Connor, C.M.  2010.  Making conservation physiology relevant to policy managers and conservation practitioners.  Conservation Letters 3:159-166.

O’Connor, C.M., Gilmour, K.M., Arlinghaus, R., Van Der Kraak, G., and Cooke, S.J.  2009.  Stress and parental care in a wild teleost fish: Insights from exogenous supraphysiological cortisol implants.  Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 82: 709-719.

Fobert, E., Meining, P., Colotelo, A., O’Connor, C.M., and Cooke, S.J.  2009.  Cut the line or remove the hook?  An evaluation of sublethal and lethal endpoints for deeply hooked bluegill.  Fisheries Research 99: 38-46.

Hanson, K.C., O’Connor, C.M., Van Der Kraak, G., and Cooke, S.J.  2009.  Paternal aggression towards a brood predator during parental care in wild smallmouth bass is not correlated with circulating testosterone or cortisol concentrations.  Hormones and Behavior 55: 495-499.

Caputo, M., O’Connor, C.M., Hasler, C.T., Hanson, K.C., and Cooke, S.J.  2009.  Long-term effects of surgically implanted telemetry tags on the nutritional physiology and condition of wild freshwater fish.  Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 84: 35-41. 

O’Connor, C.M.  2009.  What doesn’t kill fish doesn’t necessarily make them stronger: Understanding the long-term population consequences of stress.  Fisheries 34: 39.

Suski, C.D., Cooke, S.J., Danylchuk, A.J., O’Connor, C.M., Gravel, M., Redpath, T., Gingerich, A.J., Murchie, K.J., Danylchuk, S.E., Koppelman, J.B., and Goldberg, T.L.  2007.  Physiological disturbance and recovery dynamics of bonefish (Albula vulpes), a tropical marine fish, in response to variable exercise and exposure to air.  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 148: 664-667.