Assistant Professor
- BSc. (Mount Allison University)
- MSc. (University of Guelph)
- PhD. (McMaster University)
Office: LHS D240
Phone: 6233
Email: cayleihrobertson@trentu.ca
Research Interests
The overarching goal of my research program is to investigate how stressors that disrupt metabolism during early development permanently impact an animal’s physiology. We currently study temperature stress in mammals during three critical stages; pregnancy, nursing and puberty.
We focus on brown adipose tissue (BAT), a heater organ that protects young mammals from hypothermia. Specifically, our lab studies the hormones this tissue secretes during periods of energy imbalance. The prevalence and activity of BAT in adult mammals (including humans) varies dramatically between individuals, yet its presence is highly beneficial. BAT allows small winter active mammals to survive overwinter and protects adult humans from cardiometabolic disease. Yet the environmental factors and molecular mechanisms underlying variation in BAT activity and are poorly understood. Young rodents regularly experience cold stress both the lab, where most breeding facilities are maintained well below a mouse's optimal temperature; and in the wild, where climate change is making weather increasingly extreme and unpredictable. My aim is to understand how early cold alters adult BAT function. To achieve this I study the regulation of metabolism from the whole animal to the cellular level. I use a combination of traditional (domesticated lab rodents) and emerging (wild rodents) models.
Teaching List
- BIOL 2070
- BIOL 2100
- BIOL 4830
Selected Publications
2024
SZ Coulson, SA Lyons, CE Robertson, B Fabello, LM Dessureault and GB McClelland. Regulation of muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and exercise fuel use in high-altitude deer mice. J Exp. Biol. 227 (16) jeb.246890
2023
CE Robertson, FE Weaver and CA Nurse. "Turning up the heat": role of neurotrophic batokines in postnatal maturation and remodeling of brown adipose tissue in deer mice. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab., 325(1): E32-E45, doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00331.2022
2022
L Hayward, CE Robertson and GB McClelland. Phenotypic plasticity to chronic cold exposure in two species of Peromyscus from different environments. J. Comp Physiol. B., 192 doi: 10.1007/s00360-021-01423-4
2021
CE Robertson and GB McClelland. Evolved changes in maternal care in high-altitude native deer mice. J. Exp. Biol., 224, doi: 10.1242/jeb.235218
CE Robertson and GB McClelland. Ancestral and developmental cold alter brown adipose tissue function and adult thermal acclimation in Peromyscus. J. Comp. Physiol. B., 191, doi:10.1007/s00360-021-01355-z
SZ Coulson, CE Robertson, S Mahalingam and GB McClelland. Plasticity of non-shivering thermogenesis and brown adipose tissue in high-altitude deer mice. J. Exp. Biol., 224, doi:10.1242/jeb.242279
L Tunnah, CE Robertson, AJ Turko and PA Wright. Acclimation to prolonged aquatic hypercarbia or air enhances hemoglobin-oxygen affinity in an amphibious fish. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A., 252, doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.110848
2020
CE Robertson and K Wilsterman. Developmental and reproductive physiology of high-altitude mammals: challenges and evolutionary innovations. J. Exp. Biol. 223, doi: 10.1242/jeb.215350
JP Velotta, CE Robertson, RM Schweizer, GB McClelland and ZA Cheviron. Adaptive shifts in gene regulation underlie a developmental delay in thermogenesis in high-altitude deer mice. Mol. Biol. Evol., 37, doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaa086
CM Ivy, MA Greaves, ED Sangster, CE Robertson, C Natarajan, JF Storz, GB McClelland and GR Scott. Ontogenesis of evolved changes in respiratory physiology in deer mice native to high altitude. J. Exp. Biol., 223, doi:10.1242/jeb219360
2019
CE Robertson and GB McClelland. Developmental delay in shivering limits thermogenic capacity in juvenile high-altitude deer mice. J. Exp. Biol., 222, doi:10.1242/jeb210963
CE Robertson, GJ Tattersall and GB McClelland. Development of homeothermic endothermy is delayed in high altitude deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Proc. R. Soc. B., 286, doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.0841
Information for Prospective Students
I am always excited to chat with prospective students (undergraduate/graduate) and post docs. If you are interested in the work, we are doing please reach out via e-mail.
