
Dr Laura Parker is an Indigenous Scientia Senior Lecturer and ARC DAATSIA Fellow in the Faculty of Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Laura is interested in understanding and overcoming the impacts of climate change and environmental stress on marine organisms. Her research focuses specifically on building resilience in marine molluscs to current (e.g. salinity, food availability) and future (e.g. ocean warming and acidification) stressors and understanding the underlying physiological, molecular and epigenetic mechanisms involved. Through her research, Laura aims to develop new capacities to 'future-proof' natural oyster populations and the Australian oyster industry, and contribute to the restoration of degraded oyster habitats that are of enormous importance to Indigenous Australians. Her research is currently supported by an ARC Discovery Indigenous grant titled “The basis of oyster resilience to global environmental change”.
Selected grants
2019 – present. Parker LM, Ross PM, Elizur A, O’Connor WA and Pörtner H-O. The basis of oyster resilience to global environmental change. Discovery Indigenous Grant round 2019.
2017 – 2020. Byrne M, Ross PM, Parker LM, O’Connor WA. Transgenerational Plasticity & Epigenetics - Ocean Change Adaptation. Environmental Trust 2016 Environmental Research Program.
2014 – 2017. Parker LM, Coleman R, Ross PM and Virtue P. The impact of climate change on larval energetics of molluscs on the southeast coast of Australia. ARC Indigenous Discovery 2014 round.
2012 – 2015. Raftos DA, Haynes PA, Parker LM, O’Connor WA, Ross PM and Pörtner H-O. Adapting to climate change: Does enhanced metabolism provide heritable protection against ocean acidification and increasing temperature in oysters? ARC Discovery Grant 2012 round.
2010 – 2012. Parker LM, PM Ross, WA O’Connor, DA Raftos and H Pörtner. Climate change research: Can Sydney rock oysters adapt to chronic multigenerational exposure to ocean acidification and temperature? Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Indigenous Researchers Fellowship.
2018 Young Tall Poppy Science Award
BIOS2031 Biology of Invertebrates (Guest Lecturer, 2019)