Rate My Professor Nicola Rivers

Dr Nicola Rivers is a reproductive biologist and senior lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University. She holds a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from the University of Western Australia, a Graduate Diploma in Reproductive Sciences from Monash University completed in 2016, and a PhD from Monash University's Education Program in Reproduction and Development (EPRD), investigating cryopreservation and assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) in threatened fish species. Joining EPRD in 2017 as a tutor, she progressed to Graduate Reproductive Sciences (GRS) practical coordinator in 2019, interim GRS course coordinator in 2021, and currently serves as GRS Course Coordinator, Senior Teaching Fellow, and Course Director for the Graduate Diploma of Reproductive Sciences. She is a member of the management team for the Australian Frozen Zoo biobanking initiative and a committee member for Reproductive Health Australia, advocating for ARTs in conservation.

Rivers' research specializes in reproductive biology, with a focus on applying assisted reproductive techniques to conservation and species management across diverse species to address extinction crises and climate change impacts, particularly through cryopreservation of wildlife and fish gametes. Key publications include 'Cryopreservation of testicular tissue from Murray River Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis' (Scientific Reports, 2020; with Daly, Jones, Temple-Smith), 'New directions in assisted breeding techniques for fish conservation' (Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 2020; with Daly, Temple-Smith), 'Cryopreservation and Flow Cytometric Analysis of Ovarian Tissue in Murray River Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis' (Animals, 2022; with Daly, Jones, Currie, Temple-Smith), 'Reproductive biology research down under: Highlights from the Australian and New Zealand Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Biology, 2021' (Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 2022; multiple co-authors), and 'Insights into postgraduate student behaviour, underpinned by motivational orientation, within an emergency remote teaching environment' (Advancing Scholarship and Research in Higher Education, 2023; with Beilby). Her excellence in teaching and research has been recognized with the Vice-Chancellor's Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (Early Career Researcher, 2023), Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Dean's Citation (2023), Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, Monash Visualise Your Thesis Final Winner and International Round Commendation (2020), and Scientist in Reproductive Technologies Early Career Scientist Prize (2019). She engages in science communication via Monash Lens articles on biobanking and education.