Dr. Charles Michael Bishop

Staff profile

• Introduction
• Publications

Dr Charles Bishop has links with the Cell and Genome Group. Behavioural Physiology and Energetics - Interests include the morphological and physiological adaptations that underlie inter- and intra-specific differences in animal locomotor abilities and in the energetic costs involved in different behaviours, especially flight. Model systems include the physiology of wildfowl and gamebirds and the flight abilities of homing pigeons (Columba livia). Techniques include measuring the expression of muscle genes, metabolic enzymes and fuel substrates, the monitoring of heart rate during wind tunnel and free flight, and the modelling of cardiovascular variables with respect to adaptive and allometric variation. Heart rate has also been measured in free-ranging fish and reptile species using miniature archival data loggers. Recent work, funded by NERC, has seen the deployment of novel, low-powered archival GPS tags capable of working for many weeks on aquatic vertebrates. Results include high resolution tracks of turtles, fur seals, wandering albatrosses and king penguins.