Paul Craig

Dr. Paul Craig is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo and currently serves as the Department’s Chair. His research focuses on integrative aquatic physiology, examining how environmental stressors such as temperature change, hypoxia and contaminants influence organismal performance through molecular, biochemical and mitochondrial mechanisms.

His work bridges field and laboratory approaches and incorporates advanced tools including high-resolution respirometry, transcriptomics and microRNA analyses to understand how aquatic organisms respond and adapt to changing environments. His research is motivated by real-world environmental challenges, with a focus on linking molecular responses to whole-organism performance and ecological outcomes. A unique aspect of Craig's research is examining the epigenetic mechanisms driving the altered phenotypes found in fishes exposed to multiple stressors. Epigenetics is defined by examining the inheritance of variation beyond changes in DNA sequence. Epigenetic regulation, through DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNA may profoundly alter transcriptional and translational effects of gene expression, and it is now clear that these mechanisms are influenced by environmental stressors, both natural and anthropogenic, acting as the interface between the genome and the environment.

Craig’s research advances the ability to predict how aquatic organisms respond to environmental stressors such as climate warming, hypoxia and contaminants, helping inform conservation strategies and policy decisions that protect freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem health. By identifying how pollutants and environmental changes affect fish health and resilience, his work contributes to safer water systems, more sustainable fisheries and better-informed management of freshwater resources that communities rely on. Craig aims to develop tools and knowledge that enable earlier detection of ecosystem stress, support evidence-based environmental policy and ultimately help safeguard clean water, biodiversity and the long-term sustainability of freshwater ecosystems for future generations.

• Comparative and environmental animal physiology

• Phenotypic responses to multiple environmental stressors

• Molecular and epigenetic analysis, including microRNA and methylation profiling

• Energetics and metabolism

• 2014, Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Ottawa, Canada

• 2009, PhD Comparative Physiology, McMaster University, Canada

• 2004, MSc Comparative Physiology, University of Guelph, Canada

• 2001, BSc Zoology, University of Guelph, Canada

• 2019, Ontario Early Researcher Award

• 2018, 2024, University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Award

• 2025 – Present, Department Chair, Biology

• 2023 – Present, Director, WATER Facility

• 2023 – Present, Associate Editor, Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology Part B

• 2023 – 2024, Conference Organizer/Leader; Canadian Society of Zoologists Annual Meeting (2025); Canadian Ecotoxicology Workshop

• 2019 – 2025, Chair, University of Waterloo Animal Care Committee

• 2015 – Present, Biology Seminar Series Co-organizer

• Editorial Committee Member, CCAC guidelines (Zebrafish; Fish Guidelines)

• Biology Executive Committee Member

• Journal Editorships: International Editorial Board; Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology; Review Editor for Animal Physiology Section; Reference Module in Life Sciences

• Canadian Society of Zoologist

• American Physiological Society

• BIOL 110 - Introductory Zoology
  • Taught in 2023
• BIOL 370 - Comparative Animal Physiology: Environmental Aspects
  • Taught in 2021
• BIOL 477L - Techniques in Animal Physiology
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2024, 2026
• BIOL 605 - Environmental Animal Physiology
  • Taught in 2025

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• For the full list of Paul Craig's publications, please see Google Scholar.

• Clow TM, Borowiec BG, Craig PM. (2026 Jan) The effects of short-term hypoxia on hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha mRNA and microRNA in Fundulus heteroclitus. Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol.;281:111180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2025.111180

• Weber AV, Craig PM. (2025 Apr) Characterization of darter (Etheostoma spp.) interspecific energetic responses to acute temperature elevations. Conserv Physiol. 15;13(1):coaf027. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coaf027

• Gavarikar S, Craig PM. (2025 Aug-Sep) Developmental exposure to constant elevated temperatures and diel thermal variation alters microRNA expression and performance in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. ;279:111122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2025.111122

• Robichaud K, Bragg LM, Servos MR, Craig PM. (2024 Jul) Venlafaxine exposure alters mitochondrial respiration and mitomiR abundance in zebrafish brains. Environ Toxicol Chem. ;43(7):1569-1582. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.5884

• Turko AJ, Firth BL, Craig PM, Eliason EJ, Raby GD, Borowiec BG. (2023 Dec) Physiological differences between wild and captive animals: a century-old dilemma. J Exp Biol. 1;226(23):jeb246037. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246037

• August 5, 2015 “Fishing for answers” Waterloo Chronicle