Rate My Professor Alison Cree

Emeritus Professor Alison Cree is a leading zoologist and herpetology expert in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago. She developed an interest in New Zealand's reptiles during her second year of undergraduate studies at the University of Canterbury and completed her PhD at the University of Waikato on frogs. After her doctorate, she served as a postdoctoral fellow at Victoria University of Wellington and worked on contract for the Department of Conservation, studying reproductive hormone cycles in tuatara on offshore islands. This research contributed to the Department of Conservation’s Tuatara Recovery Group and co-authoring the first Tuatara Recovery Plan. In 1987, she co-founded the Society for Research on Amphibians and Reptiles in New Zealand. In 1991, Cree joined the University of Otago on a one-year lecturer contract in Zoology, which extended into a 30-year career. She progressed to Head of Department, was promoted to Professor in 2017, and retired in 2021 while retaining emeritus status.

Cree's research focuses on the ecophysiology of New Zealand reptiles, particularly reproductive biology, thermal biology, and responses to climate change in species such as skinks, geckos, and tuatara. Her projects include monitoring tuatara reintroduced to Orokonui Ecosanctuary—the southernmost wild population on the South Island—and thermal ecology of alpine geckos. She supervised recent students, including Christian Chukwuka (PhD 2020) on microhabitat use by Woodworthia geckos amid climate change, Aaron Bertoia (MSc 2019) on alpine gecko thermal ecology, and Jemima Gardiner-Rodden (MSc 2019) on tuatara nesting. Key publications include her book Tuatara: Biology and Conservation of a Venerable Survivor (2014); chapters on reproduction and thermal physiology in New Zealand Lizards (2016); and papers such as Bertoia et al. (2021) on nocturnal gecko cold tolerance in Journal of Thermal Biology, Jarvie et al. (2021) on tuatara climate suitability in Journal of Biogeography, and Cree et al. (1995) on tuatara reproduction in Conservation Biology. Cree was awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in 2023 for services to herpetology, particularly tuatara, and Honorary Life Membership of the Society for Research on Amphibians and Reptiles in New Zealand in 2021. Her contributions have enhanced conservation outcomes for Aotearoa's reptiles through collaborations with iwi, ecosanctuaries, and conservation managers.