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Dr Eleanor Peirce

PhD BSc (Honours) (University of Adelaide, Australia)

Lecturer, Level B
Academic Program Adviser, Bachelor of Health Sciences Program

Research Interests

Eleanor's research interests lie in the area of reproductive biology of native Australian mammals and she is a member of the Department's Reproductive Biology Research Group. In particular she has studied factors contributing to testis size, testicular structural organization, male germ cell production and sperm storage in native Australian rodents. She completed her PhD thesis on male germ cell production in the Australian Conilurine rodents, the plains rat, Pseudomys australis and the spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis, in 2000, and part of this work was presented at the meeting of the UK Society for the Study of Fertility in July 2001 in Cambridge. Eleanor is currently a member of the Australian Mammal Society and held the position of Assistant Secretary of the Society from 1998-2000.

Recent Publications and Abstracts

1. Peirce, EJ, Moore HDM and Breed, WG (2002) Unusual distribution of spermatozoa in the male reproductive tract of a murid rodent, the spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis. submitted to Reproduction
2. Peirce, EJ and Breed, WG (2001) A Comparative study of sperm production in two species of Australian arid zone rodents (Pseudomys australis, Notomys alexis) with marked differences in testis size. Reproduction 121, 239-247
3. Peirce, EJ, Moore HDM and Breed, WG (2001) Highly divergent sperm storage sites in a murid rodent. Society for the Study of Fertility Annual Conference, University of Cambridge, England, July 2001, A84, p33.
4. Peirce, E and Breed, W (2000) Testis size and sperm numbers in the adult hopping mouse, Notomys alexis - an update. Australian Mammal Society Annual Conference Proceedings, Alice Springs, April 2000, p49.
5. Peirce E and Breed, W (1998) A pilot study to determine the validity of the optical dissector method for cell quantitation in testes of Australian rodents. Australian Mammal Society Annual Conference Proceedings, Perth, Australia July 1998, p81.

Teaching and Administration

Eleanor's current teaching activities relate primarily to the Bachelor of Health Sciences Program where she has a major role in both course delivery to first year students and administrative support on academic matters relating to the degree program. She has been involved in teaching the compulsory health science course Human Biology I since its inception in 1990, and has been its course coordinator and administrator since 1993. During her time as course coordinator she has introduced a portfolio assessment system that recognizes the diversity of backgrounds and interests of students and is aimed at assisting them to realize their full academic potential by enabling them to demonstrate skills and knowledge across a range of assessment tasks and formats. Flexibility of assessment modes also encourages students to explore their own learning styles. In 1995 Eleanor became an Academic Program Adviser for the Health Sciences program and a member of the Management Committee for the Bachelor of Health Sciences program. She is able to advise current and prospective students on course choices, prerequisite courses for majors within the health sciences program and study pathways suitable for specific careers and postgraduate study.

Eleanor's other areas of teaching expertise include functional histology (links between structure and function at the sub-cellular, cellular and tissue levels of organization), reproductive biology and introductory anatomy.

Contact Eleanor: eleanor.peirce@adelaide.edu.au