Rate My Professor Yuta Kawarasaki

Kawarasaki's research interests encompass environmental and comparative physiology, cryobiology, entomology, and winter ecology, with a primary emphasis on physiological responses of insects to extreme stresses such as cold, dehydration, and climate change impacts. Notable publications include "Rapid cold hardening: ecological relevance, physiological mechanisms and new perspectives" (Journal of Experimental Biology, 2020, with N.M. Teets and J.D. Gantz); "Simulated winter warming negatively impacts survival of Antarctica’s only endemic insect" (Functional Ecology, 2022, with J.J. Devlin et al.); "Is rapid cold-hardening an aerobic process? Characterization of changes in metabolic activity during its induction and effects of anoxia in flesh fly" (Journal of Insect Physiology, 2020); "Rapid cold hardening protects against sublethal freezing injury in an Antarctic insect" (Journal of Experimental Biology, 2019, with N.M. Teets et al.); and "Alternative overwintering strategies in an Antarctic midge: freezing versus cryoprotective dehydration" (Functional Ecology, 2014). His scholarship has earned over 635 citations. Awards and honors include the 2020 Mansergh Faculty Scientific Research Award for an outstanding peer-reviewed publication, NSF Research Opportunity Award ($41,000, 2021-2022), Presidential Faculty/Student Collaboration Grants (2016, 2022), Congressional Antarctic Service Medal (2013), and multiple teaching and travel grants. Kawarasaki teaches courses including Organismal Biology, Animal Physiology, and Insects in the Changing World.