A scientist from the Blue Mountains has made headlines around the world for a groundbreaking study linking sex changes in lizards to climate change.
Dr Clare Holleley from the University of Canberra was the lead author on a study which revealed rising global temperatures pose a serious risk of turning many of the world’s male reptiles into females, potentially creating entire female-only populations of some animals.
Making the cover of the prestigious Nature magazine on its release last Thursday, the findings were reported in newspapers including the New York Times and Washington Post as well as the Daily Mirror tabloid in the United Kingdom (“Meet the remarkable lizard who changes SEX in the sunshine,” splashed its headline).
“It’s been kind of amazing to get the research out there in the public and have such a positive response,” Dr Holleley told the Gazette.
The biologist went to Hazelbrook Public School and Blue Mountains Grammar School, and credits her Mountains roots for her future scientific career.
“High school was where I developed my first interest in biology due to a particularly excellent biology teacher, Kery O’Neill... She was just able to inspire enthusiasm in her students,” said the former Woodford resident.
That early spark would eventually lead to last week’s milestone study, conducted on Australian bearded dragons, that for the first time confirmed that climate-induced changes are triggering sex changes in the wild.
Dr Holleley said the changes, which had previously only been produced in the lab, raised questions about the evolution of some species.
“What we have found is that temperature does potentially affect the evolution of the species. If they are going to be exposed to higher temperatures more frequently, that is potentially going to affect their biology,” she said.
Dr Holleley said one of the big questions the research raised was whether the animals would adapt to rising temperatures or face being wiped out.
Media interest in the study wasn’t the only major event the former Mountains resident juggled in the last month. Dr Holleley became a first-time mum four weeks ago, proudly taking her new son Anderson to the press conference announcing the research findings last week.
“He didn’t even make a peep during the live TV cross. I was very impressed!” she said.
— with Canberra Times
