Associate Professor Steven Cooper

Biography/ Background

Associate Professor Steven Cooper is a Principal Researcher and Head of Biological Sciences at the South Australian Museum and an affiliate at the University of Adelaide, where he is a member of the Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity. His research investigates the diversity, evolution and molecular ecology of Australian fauna, with a strong focus on subterranean and groundwater invertebrate fauna from the arid zone of Australia.

Awards & Achievements

He was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship in 2003 for research on subterranean faunas and was a visiting Conviron Fellow at the University of Sheffield, UK in 2008.

Research Interests

1.  Phylogeography of Australian fauna: the biogeographic history of organisms and factors that influence speciation. Collaborators: Prof. R. Butlin (University of Sheffield, UK), T. Kawakami (Kansas State University, US): morabine grasshopper evolution. Dr. M. Gardner (Flinders University), Mr. M. Adams (SA Museum): phylogeography.

 

2.  Molecular systematics and evolutionary origins of Australian arid zone fauna (Major project on the evolution of subterranean animals in central WA and arthropods from Mound Springs of the Great Artesian Basin; collaborators: Dr W. Humphreys, WA Museum, Dr C. Watts, Dr R. Leijs, SA Museum, Prof. A. Austin, Dr. M. Guzik, Dr. N. Murphy University of Adelaide, Dr S. Taiti Italy; Dr Joo-Lae Cho, Sth Korea. Ph.D students: Ms. K. Abrams, Mr. M. Javidkar.

 

3. Conservation/ population genetics/ social behaviour/ systematic studies of bats,  reptiles, marsupials, wasps, spiders and polychaetes; collaborators: Assoc. Prof. S. Carthew, Dr M. Lancaster, Dr. D. Taggart, Prof. Andy Austin, University of Adelaide; Dr M. Harvey WA Museum. Dr. C. Kemper, Mr M. Adams SA Museum, Dr. A. Taylor, Monash University; Ph.D students: Mr T. Reardon, Mr. N. Fuller, Ms. K. Trengrove, Ms. Magda Halt, Ms. S. Potter, Ms. You Li.

 

4.  Evolution of social behaviour and the biogeographic history of Australian native bees (Assoc. Prof. M. Schwarz, Flinders University).

 

5. Molecular evolution of the globin genes in mammals and reptiles. collaborators: Assoc. Prof. R. Hope, University of Adelaide, Ms. V. Patel, Prof. J. Marshall-Graves, ANU).

 

Publications

2008-2011

Guzik M.T., Cooper S.J.B., Humphreys W.F., Ong S., Kawakami T & Austin A.D. (2011) Evidence for population fragmentation within a subterranean aquatic habitat in the Western Australian desert. Heredity (in press; 14/1/2011).

Lancaster M., Taylor, A., Cooper S.J.B. & Carthew S. (2011) Limited ecological connectivity in an arboreal marsupial across a fragmented forest landscape despite apparent resilience to habitat modification. Molecular Ecology (in press 17/1/2011).

Guzik M.T., Austin A.D., Cooper S.J.B., Harvey M.S., Humphreys W.F., Bradford T., Eberhard S.M., King R.A., Leijs R., Muirhead K.A. & Tomlinson M. (2011) Is the Australian subterranean fauna uniquely diverse? Invertebrate Systematics (Viewpoint paper) (in press 10/1/2011).

Bradford T., Adams M., Humphreys W.F., Austin A.D. & Cooper S.J.B. (2010) DNA barcoding of stygofauna uncovers cryptic amphipod diversity in a calcrete aquifer in Western Australia's arid zone. Molecular Ecology Resources 10: 41-50.

Rehan S.M., Chapman T.W., Craigie A., Cooper S.J.B. & Schwarz M.P. (2010) Phylogeny, historical biogeography and cladogenesis of the small carpenter bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Ceratinini). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55: 1042-1054.

Juan C., Guzik M.T., Jaume D. & Cooper S.J.B. (2010) Evolution in caves: Darwin's "wrecks of ancient life" in the molecular era. Molecular Ecology 19: 3865-3880.

Malekian M., Cooper S.J.B. & Carthew S.M. (2010) Phylogeography of Australian Petaurus breviceps: evidence for a new divergent lineage in New South Wales and Queensland. Australian Journal of Zoology 58: 165-181.

Schwarz M.P., Tierney S.M., Rehan S.M., Chenoweth L. B. & Cooper S.J.B. (2010) The evolution of eusociality in bees: Workers began by waiting. Biology Letters (published online, 13/10/2010).

Malekian M., Cooper S.J.B., Norman J.A., Christidis L. & Carthew S. M. (2010) Molecular systematics and evolutionary origins of the genus Petaurus (Marsupialia: Petauridae) in Australia and New Guinea. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 122-135.

Lancaster M. Cooper S.J.B., Carthew S. & Taylor A. (2009) Microsatellite markers for the Common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) and their amplification in other Pseudocheirids. Molecular Ecology Resources(Published Online: Jun 10 2009), Permanent Genetic Resources Note 1535.

Kawakami T., Butlin R.K., Adams M., Paull D.J. & Cooper S.J.B. (2009) Genetic analysis of a chromosomal hybrid zone in the Australian morabine grasshoppers (Vandiemenella, viatica species group). Evolution 63: 139-152.

Guzik M.T., Cooper S.J.B., Humphreys W.F. and Austin, A.D. (2009) Fine-scale comparative phylogeography of a sympatric sister species triplet of subterranean diving beetles from a single calcrete aquifer in Western Australia. Molecular Ecology 18: 3683-3698.

Kawakami T., Butlin R.K., Adams M., Paull D.J. & Cooper S.J.B. (2009) Re-examination of a proposed case of stasipatric speciation: phylogeography of the Australian morabine grasshoppers (Vandiemenella viatica species group). Molecular Ecology 18: 3429-3442.

Humphreys W.F., Watts C.H.S., Cooper S.J.B., Leijs R. & Bradbury J.H. (2009) Groundwater estuaries of saltlakes: buried pools of endemic biodiversity on the western plateau, Australia. Hydrobiologia 626: 79-95.

Halt M.N., Kupriyanova E.K., Cooper S.J.B. & Rouse G.W. (2009) Species status of Galeolaria caespitosa (Annelida, Serpulidae) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences and morphology. Invertebrate Systematics 23: 205-222.

Cooper S.J.B., Saint K.M., Taiti S., Austin A.D. & Humphreys W.F. (2008) Subterranean archipelago: mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of stygobitic isopods (Oniscidea: Haloniscus) from the Yilgarn region of Western Australia. Invertebrate Systematics 22: 195-203.

Guzik, M.T., Abrams K.M., Cooper S.J.B., Humphreys W.F., Cho J-L., & Austin A.D. (2008) Phylogeography of the ancient Parabathynellidae (Crustacea: Bathynellacea) from the Yilgarn region of Western Australia. Invertebrate Systematics 22: 205-216.

Allford A., Cooper S.J.B., Humphreys W.F. & Austin A.D. (2008) Diversity and distribution of groundwater fauna in a limestone aquifer: does sampling alter the story? Invertebrate Systematics 22: 127-138.

Patel V.S., Cooper S.J.B., Deakin J.E., Fulton B., Graves T., Warren W.C., Wilson R.K. & Graves J.A.M. (2008) Platypus globin genes and flanking markers suggest a new insertional model for b-globin evolution in birds and mammals. BMC Biology 6:34.

Byrne M., Yeates D.K., Joseph L., Kearney M., Bowler J., Williams M.A., Cooper S.J.B., Donnellan S.C., Keogh S., Leijs R., Melville J., Murphy D., Porch N, Wyrwoll K.-H. (2008) Birth of a biome: Synthesizing environmental and molecular studies of the assembly and maintenance of the Australian arid zone biota. Molecular Ecology 17: 4398-4417.

Pestell A.J.L., Cooper S.J.B., Saint K.M. & Petit S. (2008) Genetic structure of the western pygmy possum, Cercartetus concinnus Gould (Marsupialia: Burramyidae), of southern Australia. Australian Mammalogy 29: 191-200.

Professional Associations

Treasurer of the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists.

Member of the editorial board of the CSIRO journal Australian Journal of Zoology.

Member of the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists, Evolution Society, European Society for Evolutionary Biology, Genetics Society of Australia.

Entry last updated: Friday, 22 Jul 2011