Antoine Stier
PhD
Ecophysiology; Ageing; Metabolism; Birds
I conducted my PhD in Ecophysiology at the
University of Strasbourg
(2010-2013), working on the relationships between mitochondrial function, oxidative stress and animal life histories.
As a side-project of my PhD, I demonstrated that avian
red blood cells possess functional mitochondria (Stier et al. 2013 Front. Zool.). Building
on this finding, I developed collaborations with the French Polar Institute
(2013-14) and the University of Aberdeen to use avian red blood cells to
study mitochondrial function in non-model and wild animals. I then moved to the University of Angers for a Research and Teaching position (2014-2015), where I was in charge of teaching Animal
Biology and Ecology. I developed a research project linking environmental
constraints to accelerated ageing in a reptile species.
I was then able to secure a Marie Curie fellowship (2016-17) to work as a Research Fellow at
the University of Glasgow on the impact of pre-natal environmental
conditions on ageing rate, using Japanese quail as a model species.
I moved to the University
of Turku in 2018 where I work as a TCSM Research Fellow (2018-2021). I am investigating the importance
of early-life hormonal exposure (stress and thyroid hormones) in determining
mitochondrial function and telomere dynamics during development and later in
life, using wild birds (king penguin and passerine
species).
My research is at the
crossroad between physiology, ecology and gerontology. I am broadly interested
in the physiological mechanisms contributing to the ageing process and their
implication in shaping organism’s phenotype from the conception to the death. My
research focus on the contribution of mitochondrial function, oxidative stress,
stress hormones and telomere dynamics as proximate mechanisms shaping health,
ageing and life histories. I use mainly bird species as models, both in
captivity and in their natural environment
2019: Supervision of Coline Marciau (Pre-PhD funding, University of Turku)
2019: Supervision of two MSc
student projects (University of Turku,
Finland)
2017-2020: PhD co-supervision of Tiia
Kärkkäinen (University of Turku)
of two BSc student projects (University of Turku,
Finland)
lecture in Animal Physiology (3rd BSc
year, University of Glasgow, UK)
of two MSc and one BSc student projects (University of Glasgow, UK)
in Zoology, Ecology and Behavioural Ecology and (100 contact hours: 1st BSc year, 2nd BSc
year, 1st MSc year, University of Angers, France)
of two MSc student projects (University of
Angers, France)
of one PhD chapter (Universities of
Angers and Toulon, France)
in Zoology and Applied Ecology (90 contact hours:
1st BSc & MSc years, University of Angers)
course of Ecology and Lecture in Biodiversity (30 contact hours: 2nd BSc year, 2nd MSc
year, University of Strasbourg, France)
in Zoology and Behavioural Ecology (60 contact hours:
1st BSc & MSc years, University of Strasbourg, France)
of three MSc student projects (University of
Strasbourg, France)
in Behavioural Ecology (40 contact hours:
1st and 2nd MSc years, University of Strasbourg)
of two MSc student projects (University of Strasbourg,
France)
in Zoology and Ethology (60 contact hours: 1st and 2nd
BSc years, University of Strasbourg)
- Integrating Mitochondrial Aerobic Metabolism into Ecology and Evolution (2021)
- Trends in Ecology and Evolution
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Interplays between pre- and post-natal environments affect early-life mortality, body mass and telomere dynamics in the wild (2021)
- Journal of Experimental Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Long-term intake of the illegal diet pill DNP reduces lifespan in a captive bird model (2021)
- Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part C: Toxicology and Pharmacology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Born to be young? Prenatal thyroid hormones increase early-life telomere length in wild collared flycatchers (2020)
- Biology Letters
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Correlation in telomere lengths between feathers and blood cells in pied flycatchers (2020)
- Journal of Avian Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Foster rather than biological parental telomere length predicts offspring survival and telomere length in king penguins (2020)
- Molecular Ecology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Increased glucocorticoid concentrations in early life cause mitochondrial inefficiency and short telomeres (2020)
- Journal of Experimental Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Pace and stability of embryonic development affect telomere dynamics: an experimental study in a precocial bird model (2020)
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Testing for context-dependent effects of prenatal thyroid hormones on offspring survival and physiology: an experimental temperature manipulation (2020)
- Scientific Reports
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Impact of continuous predator threat on telomere dynamics in parent and nestling pied flycatchers (2019)
- Oecologia
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Is there an oxidative cost of acute stress? Characterization, implication of glucocorticoids and modulation by prior stress experience (2019)
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Oxidative stress and mitochondrial responses to stress exposure suggest that king penguins are naturally equipped to resist stress (2019)
- Scientific Reports
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Plastic but repeatable: Rapid adjustments of mitochondrial function and density during reproduction in a wild bird species (2019)
- Biology Letters
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - An integrative appraisal of the hormonal and metabolic changes induced by acute stress using king penguins as a model (2018)
- General and Comparative Endocrinology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Does oxidative stress shorten telomeres in vivo? A review (2017)
- Biology Letters
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Environmental conditions can modulate the links among oxidative stress, age, and longevity (2017)
- Mechanisms of Ageing and Development
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - How to measure mitochondrial function in birds using red blood cells: a case study in the king penguin and perspectives in ecology and evolution (2017)
- Methods in Ecology and Evolution
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Oxidative stress in a capital breeder (Vipera aspis) facing pregnancy and water constraints (2017)
- Journal of Experimental Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Age and Heat Stress as Determinants of Telomere Length in a Long-Lived Fish, the Siberian Sturgeon (2016)
- Physiological and Biochemical Zoology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Beak color dynamically signals changes in fasting status and parasite loads in king penguins (2016)
- Behavioral Ecology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)