Prof. Andrea Fuller

Andrea Fuller is a comparative physiologist recognized for her work on thermoregulation, conservation physiology, and wildlife health. Based at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, she has contributed extensively to understanding how animals cope with thermal and environmental stress, and serves in a leadership role within the journal Conservation Physiology. Her scholarship bridges laboratory and field research across diverse taxa.

Her research focuses on mechanisms of body temperature regulation in mammals, birds, and reptiles, including conceptual advances on negative feedback and set-point theory. She has examined circadian rhythms, microclimate measurement, and methodological standards for assessing thermal biology. Recent work also addresses menopause-related thermoregulation in humans, reflecting a translational dimension to her expertise.

Fuller’s field-based studies span primates, ungulates, carnivores, and megafauna, exploring reproductive trade-offs, neonatal thermal balance, diet ecology, and physiological responses to immobilization and climate extremes. Through integrative and conservation-oriented approaches, her contributions have shaped understanding of how environmental change influences animal performance, welfare, and survival.