Professor Chris Daniels

Chris Daniels is Professor of Urban Ecology at the University of South Australia. Chris has been a prolific scientist and author, having edited 4 books and contributed to more than 150 scientific publications. He has been published on issues regarding the natural and built environments, and has an abiding interest in reptiles, particularly lizards. Chris is also an award-winning science communicator. He has regular sessions on 891 ABC Radio, and has written for the Adelaide newspaper, the Advertiser, on a range of science and environmental topics.

Barbara Hardy Centre for Sustainable Urban Environments

Citizen Science program

• Ecology
• Urban Biodiversity
• Zoology
• Evolution
• Human interactions with wildlife

Honorary Research Fellow, Royal Zoological Society of South Australia: 2003 - present

ARC- Australian-Based Reader (OZREADER): 2003 – present

Doctor of Philosophy. Zoology. The University of New England, New South Wales, 1987. Research into the functional and compositional evolution of the vertebrate pulmonary surfactant system.

BSc(Hons) (Zoology), The University of Adelaide, 1981

BSc(Zoology), The University of Adelaide, 1980

• Development and promotion of strategies that enhance urban living and encourage education, communication and awareness of the importance of the urban ecological environment, including Citizen Science.
• Evolution of animals, Adaptation to rapidly changing environments and human animal interactions.
• Favourite research animals include lizards, birds, and possums.

Edited Books

Daniels C.B. (ed) (2010) Adelaide: Water of a City. Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 581 pages. Find out more about the book...

Daniels C.B. & Tait, C. (eds) (2006) Adelaide: Nature of a City - the Ecology of a Dynamic City from 1836-2036. BioCity, Adelaide, 609 pages. Find out more about the book...

Books

Roetman, P.E.J & Daniels, C.B. (2009) The Possum-Tail Tree: Understanding Possums Through Citizen Science. Barbara Hardy Centre, Adelaide. Find out more about the book...

Books Chapters

Daniels, C.B., Argue, J.J., Beecham, S., Clark, R.D.S., Howard, J.R., Jones, D.S., Marks, R., McKay, J.M., Roetman, P.E.J. & Smith, K.E. (2010) Introduction. In Daniels C.B. (ed) 'Adelaide: Water of a City'. Wakefield Press, Adelaide, pp 35-48. Find out more about the book...

Daniels, C.B., Johnston, G. & Gray, C. (2010) Biodiversity of the waterways. In Daniels C.B. (ed) 'Adelaide: Water of a City'. Wakefield Press, Adelaide, pp 105-130. Find out more about the book...

Daniels, C.B., Argue, J.J., Beecham, S., Clark, R.D.S., Howard, J.R., Jones, D.S., Marks, R., McKay, J.M., Roetman, P.E.J. & Smith, K.E. (2010) Conclusion. In Daniels C.B. (ed) 'Adelaide: Water of a City'. Wakefield Press, Adelaide, pp 561-571. Find out more about the book...

Orgeig, S. & Daniels, C.B. (2009) Environmental Selection Pressures Shaping the Pulmonary Surfactant System of Adult and Developing Lungs. Chapter 11 in Glass, M.L. & Wood, S.C.(eds) 'Cardio-Respiratory Control in Vertebrates: Comparative and Evolutionary Aspects'. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg.

Tait, C. & Daniels, C.B. (2006) Introduction. In Daniels, C.B. & Tait, C. (eds) 'Adelaide. Nature of a City: the Ecology of a Dynamic City from 1836 to 2036'. BioCity, Adelaide, pp. 18-23. Find out more about the book...

Tait, C., Daniels, C.B. & Hill, R.S. (2006) The urban ark 1: The historical evolution of the plant community. Chapter 4 in Daniels, C.B. & Tait, C. (eds) 'Adelaide: Nature of a City - the Ecology of a Dynamic City from 1836 to 2036'. BioCity, Adelaide, pp. 87-110. Find out more about the book...

Tait, C. & Daniels, C.B. (2006) The urban ark 2: The historical evolution of the bird community. Chapter 5 in Daniels, C.B. & Tait C. (eds) 'Adelaide: Nature of a City - the Ecology of a Dynamic City from 1836 to 2036'. BioCity, Adelaide, pp. 111-137. Find out more about the book...

Tait, C. & Daniels, C.B. (2006) The urban ark 3: The historical evolution of the mammal community. Chapter 6 in Daniels, C.B. & Tait, C. (eds) 'Adelaide: Nature of a City - the Ecology of a Dynamic City from 1836 to 2036'. BioCity, Adelaide, pp. 138-158. Find out more about the book...

Tait, C., Daniels, C.B. & Hutchinson, M.N. (2006) The urban ark 4: The historical evolution of the reptile and amphibian communities. Chapter 7 in Daniels, C.B. & Tait, C. (eds) 'Adelaide: Nature of a City - the Ecology of a Dynamic City from 1836 to 2036'. BioCity, Adelaide, pp. 159-176. Find out more about the book...

Daniels, C.B. (2006) Future predictions: Adelaide in 2036. Chapter 23 in Daniels, C.B. & Tait, C. (eds) 'Adelaide: Nature of a City - the Ecology of a Dynamic City from 1836 to 2036'. BioCity, Adelaide, pp. 525-551. Find out more about the book...

Daniels, C.B. & Orgeig, S. (2006) Pulmonary surfactant, cell culture and tissue regeneration as models for understanding the evolution of developmental physiology. Chapter 1 in Warburton, S., Burggren, W.W., Pelster, B., Reiber C. & Spicer J. (eds) 'Comparative Developmental Physiology. Contributions, Tools and Trends'. Oxford University Press, pp 3-20.

Lang (née Ormond), C.J., Orgeig, S. & Daniels, C.B. (2005) New insights into the thermal dynamics of the surfactant system from warm and cold animals. In Nag, K. (ed). 'Lung Surfactant Function and Disorder'. Volume 201. Lung Biology in Health and Disease Series. Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, pp 17-57.

Orgeig, S., Daniels, C.B. & Sullivan, L.C. (2004) The development of the pulmonary surfactant system. Chapter 10 in Harding, R., Pinkerton, K. & Plopper, C. (ed) 'The Lung: Development, Aging and the Environment'. Academic Press, pp 150-167.

Orgeig, S. & Daniels, C.B. (2004) The effect of aging, disease and the environment on the adult pulmonary surfactant system. Chapter 27 in Harding, R., Pinkerton, K. & Plopper, C.(ed) 'The Lung: Development, Aging and the Environment'. Academic Press, pp 363-375.

Journal Articles

Zammit, M., Daniels, C.B. & Kear, B. P. (2008) Elasmosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) neck flexibility: Implications for feeding strategies. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology 150: 124-130.

Blacker, H. A., Tsopelas, C. Orgeig, S. Daniels, C. B. &. Chatterton, B. E. (2007) How Regenerating Lymphatics Function: Lessons From Lizard Tails. Anatomical Record 290: 108-114.

Foot, N. J., Orgeig, S., Donnellan, S., Bertozzi, T. & Daniels, C.B. (2007) Positive Selection in the N-terminal extramembrane domain of pulmonary surfactant protein C (SP-C) in marine mammals. Journal of Molecular Evolution 65(1): 12-22.

Munns, S.L. & Daniels, C.B. (2007) Breathing with big babies: Ventilation and oxygen consumption during pregnancy in the lizard Tiliqua Rugosa. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 80 (1): 35-45.

Orgeig, S., Bernhard, W., Biswas, S.C., Daniels, C.B., Hall, S.B., Hetz, S.K., Lang, C.J., Maina, J.N., Panda, A.K., Perez-Gil, J., Possmayer, F., Veldhuizen, R.A. & Yan, W. (2007) The anatomy, physics and physiology of gas exchange surfaces: Is there a universal function for pulmonary surfactant in animal respiratory structures? Invited Review with new data for the Proceedings of the First International Congress of Respiratory Biology, Bonn, Germany, Aug 2006. Integr. Comp. Biol. 47(4): 610-627.

Potter, S., Orgeig, S., Donnellan, S. & Daniels, C.B. (2007) Purifying selection drives the evolution of surfactant protein SP-C independently of body temperature regulation in mammals. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology - Part D (Genomics & Proteomics) 2(2): 165-176.

Young, K.M., Daniels, C.B. & Johnston, G. (2007) Species of street tree is important for southern hemisphere bird trophic guilds. Austral Ecology 32 (5): 541-550.

Miller, N.J., Postle, A.D., Orgeig, S., Koster, G. & Daniels, C.B. (2006) The composition of pulmonary surfactant from diving mammals. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 152(2):152-68.

Miller, N.J., Daniels, C.B., Schürch, S., Schoel, W.M., & Orgeig, S. (2006) The surface activity of pulmonary surfactant from diving mammals. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 150: 220-232.

Foot (née Miller), N.J., Orgeig, S. & Daniels, C.B. (2006) The evolution of a physiological system: The pulmonary surfactant system in diving mammals. Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2006 Nov;154(1-2):118-38. Invited Review in the Special Issue entitled “Frontiers in Comparative Respiratory Physiology II: Respiratory Processes and Responses to Environmental Change”, edited by Milsom, W., Mitchell, G. & Powell, F.

Johnston, G.R & Daniels, C.B. (2006) Introduction to the volume "City Life: New Perspectives in Urban Ecology." Johnston, G.R. & Daniels, C.B. (eds) Austral Ecology (special issue) 31: 113.

Johnston, G.R & Daniels, C.B. (2006) Conclusion to the volume "City Life: New Perspectives in Urban Ecology." Johnston, G.R. & Daniels, C.B. (eds) Austral Ecology (special issue) 31: 291-293.

Johnston, G.R & Daniels, C.B. (2006) Editors of ‘City Life: New Perspectives in Urban Ecology’. Proceedings of 3 symposia of the same titles held at the Australian Society of Ecologists, The Australian Evolution Society and The Australian Society for Animal Behaviour meetings in Adelaide South Australia in 2004; 15 papers comprising a special issue of Austral Ecology. 31: 113-292.

Miller, N.J., Postle, A.D., Schürch, S., Schoel, W.M., Daniels, C.B. & Orgeig, S. (2005) The development of the pulmonary surfactant system in California sea lions. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 141 (2):191-199.

Lang (née Ormond), C.J., Postle, A.D., Orgeig, S., Possmayer, F., Bernhard, W., Panda, A.K., Jürgens, K.D., Milsom, W.K., Nag, K. & Daniels, C.B. (2005) Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine is not the major surfactant phospholipid species in all mammals. Am. J. Physiol. 289: R1426–R1439.

Tait C., Daniels, C.B. & Hill, R. (2005) Changes in species assemblages within the city of Adelaide, South Australia, 1836 to 2002. An urban ecological study. Ecological Applications 15: 346-359.

Miller, N.J., Daniels, C.B., Costa, D.P. & Orgeig, S. (2004) Control of pulmonary surfactant secretion in adult California sea lions. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 313: 737-742.

Blacker, H.A., Orgeig, S. & Daniels, C.B. (2004) Hypoxic control of the development of the surfactant system in the chicken: Evidence for physiological heterokairy. Am. J. Physiol. 287: R403-R410.

Daniels, C.B., S. Orgeig, L.C. Sullivan, N. Ling, M.B. Bennett, S. Schürch, A.L. Val & C.J. Brauner. (2004) The origin and evolution of the pulmonary surfactant system in fish: Insights into the evolution of lungs and swim bladders. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 77: 732-749.

Education resources

Roetman, P.E.J, Dilger, K., Sinapius, M. & Daniels, C.B. (2010) Stormwater project resources for SACE level 1 geography students. Background, assessment tasks and supplementary resources. View these resources...

Paige, K., Lloyd, D., Zeegers, Y., Roetman, P., Daniels, C. & Russo, S. (2010) Operation Spider Teacher Resources. Interactive teaching sequence and factsheets for Primary and Middle school teachers. View these resources...

Paige, K., Lloyd, D., Zeegers, Y., Roetman, P., Daniels, C. & Russo, S. (2009) Operation Magpie Teacher Resources. Interactive teaching sequence and factsheets for Primary and Middle school teachers. View these resources...

Roetman, P.E.J & Daniels, C.B. (2008) Operation Possum Teacher Resources. Factsheets, games, report template and lesson suggestions for Primary and Middle school teachers. View these resources...

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Zoology

• Urban Ecology
• Zoology
• People and the Environment