Photo of Dr Andrea Crampton Dr Andrea Crampton

B.Sc. (hons 1) Department of Parasitology, University of Queensland, 1994
Ph.D. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Queensland, 1999

After completing my degrees at the University of Queensland I took up a postdoctoral position at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg Virginia, USA. Whilst in the USA I worked on a US Army funded project exploring the genetic basis of the Anopheles immune response to plasmodium infection. This research demonstrated that the genes involved in the mosquitoes’ response to infection are related to the genes involved in the human hosts’ response to the parasite. After 3 years in the US I returned to Australia to take up a postdoctoral position at the CRC for Diagnostics at QUT in Brisbane. This resulted in me chasing humans rather than mosquitoes as I sought to identify SNPs that related to human facial characteristics for future forensic uses. Finding humans too easy to catch I moved on to the University of New England where I was given the opportunity to chase sheep as part of an AWI (Australian Wool Innovation) project on integrated parasite management. This project got me out of the lab and working with the end users of the research, primary producers, who were also great teachers in their own right. Then is was on to CSU, a full circle as I was born less than 2 hours from my office and have the luxury of being near my grandmothers for the first time. Here I am working on water research, again enjoying the contact with end users, in this case consumers of tank water. I am also teaching microbiology and forensic based subjects in several courses.

Top of page

Top of page


Teaching

Teaching philosophy

The development of my teaching philosophy and its implementation draws heavily on my past as a research academic and laboratory manager. I approach each teaching opportunity as if it were an item to be investigated with the aim of developing methodologies that are effective and represent best practice. I also acknowledge the human elements such as apprehension, motivation and anxiety and look for ways to manager these in the most constructive and sensitive manner possible. In its simplest form, my philosophy could be stated as "I teach my students". However, behind that statement lays a large element of research into "who" my students are (increasingly generation Y), how who they are affects how they learn (many prefer a collaborative based environment with some control over the education process) and thus which strategies are the most effective (primarily those that provide flexibility and multiple means of interacting with content) for developing environments conducive to their education. Like any research project I constantly refine my methods in light of new experience, research, interactions with others and feedback from key stakeholders, in this case primarily students. In relation to the teaching approaches cited in the literature my approaches are primarily constructionists based unless the unique nature of the subject or student body indicate other approaches would be more suitable.

Teaching awards

Winner of 2009 Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award.
This was an international award based on the effective use of technology to achieve a sound pedagogical goal. This award was in relation to my teaching of FSC200.

Other

Willing supervisor of Masters and Honour students interested in a range of topics including but not limited to:

  • Drinking water.
  • Molecular analysis of microbial contaminants.
  • Use of molecular technology to investigate issues of medical, veterinary or agricultural importance.
  • Social issues related to microbial awareness and prevention.

I am also interested in supervising PhD topics in these areas however the student would need to have their own funding source for reagents and consumables.

Top of page

Top of page


Research

I have 2 key areas of research

Analysis of independently managed drinking water

This research foci is in a growth phase following on from a pilot project conducted in 2009. My interest is in relation to both issues of contamination (54% of tanks tested had levels of E. coli above those that would be deemed acceptable in water supplied by governments or other central suppliers in Australia) and that of social awareness (what do the consumers know and what are their concerns). This research was supported by a 2009 research fellowship from the Institute of Land Water and Society at CSU and continues to be supported by the institute. The project has also attracted external collaborators from the NSW department of Health and Queensland University of Technology.

Effective use of technology to support teaching

I have several projects falling under this umbrella in various stages of completion. This focus is a reflective analysis of online teaching environments following the addition of various teaching tools and strategies. The analyses explore the benefits and pitfalls to students, academics and institutions alike. My aim is to not only analyse my own teaching activities but also provide others with a rigorous appraisal of the effectiveness of online teaching tools across various applications; such as both internal and distance education.

Top of page

Top of page


Publications

Chapters in books:

  • Crampton A & Ragusa A.T. 2009. 'Sakai: A Case Study of Teaching Forensic Science. Editor Ragusa A.T., IGI, (2009)' Interaction and Communication Technologies & Virtual Learning Environments . IN PRESS
  • Crampton A, Vanniasinkam T. & Milic, N. 2009. Vodcasts! How to unsuccessfully implement a new online tool. Editor Ragusa A.T., IGI. Interaction and Communication Technologies & Virtual Learning Environments. IN PRESS

Journal articles:

  • Ragusa A. T., Chan A. & Crampton A. 2009. Ipods aren't just for tunes: exploring podcasting as a socio-cultural technology facilitating student experiences of higher education in rural Australia. Information Communication and Society 25th June 1-13.
  • Crampton A .and Ragusa A. T. 2008. My water's fine, isn't it? An exploration of the gendered perception of water quality and security in Australia. Rural Society 18 (3), 202-213.
  • Crampton A. and Vanniasinkam T. 2007. Parasite vaccines: The new generation. Infection. Genetics and. Evolution. 7 (5) 664-673..
  • Kahn, L.P, Norman, T.M., Walkden-Brown, S.W., Crampton, A. and O'Connoer L.J. 2007. Trapping efficacy of Duddingtonia flagrans against Haemonchus contortus at temperatures existing at lambing in Australia. Vet Parasitol. 146 83-89.
  • Luckhart, S., Crampton, A.L., Zamora, R., Lieber, M.J., Dos Santos, P., Peterson, T.M.L., Emmith, N., Lim J. Wink, D.A., and Vodovotz, Y. 2003. Mammalian transforming growth factor-b1 activated after ingestion by Anopheles stephensi modulates mosquito immunity. Infection and Immunity 71: 3000-3009.
  • Luckhart S., Li K., Dunton R., Lewis E.E., Crampton A.L., Ryan J.R. and Rosenberg R., 2003. Anopheles gambiae immune gene variants associated with natural Plasmodium infection. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 128: 83-6.
  • Crampton A. and Luckhart S. 2001. The role of As60A, a TGF-b homolog, in Anopheles stephensi innate immunity and defence against Plasmodium infection. Infection Genetics and Evolution 1: 131-141. (Nominated ERA ranking: C. Impact factor 2.407: Times cited: )
  • Crampton A.L. and Luckhart S. 2001. Isolation and characterization of As60A, a transforming growth factor-b gene, from the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. Cytokine 12 (2): 65-74. (Nominated ERA ranking: C. Impact factor 2.169: Times cited: 5)
  • Crampton A.L., Green P., Baxter G.D. and Barker S.C. 1999. Monooxygenases play only a minor role in resistance to synthetic pyrethroids in the cattle tick, Boophilus microplus. Experimental and Applied Acarology 23: 897-905.
  • Crampton A.L., Baxter G.D. and Barker S.C. 1999. A new family of P450 genes (CYP41) from the cattle tick, Boophilus microplus. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 29: 829-834.
  • Crampton A.L., Baxter G.D. and Barker S.C. 1999. Identification and characterisation of a cytochrome P450 gene and processed pseudogene from an arachnid: the cattle tick, Boophilus microplus. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 29: 377-384.
  • Crampton, A.L., Miller, C., Baxter, G.D. and Barker, S.C. 1998. Expressed sequenced tags and new genes from the cattle tick, Boophilus microplus. Experimental andApplied Acarology22: 177-186.
    Crampton, A., McKay, I and Barker, S.C. 1996. Phylogeny of Ticks (Ixodida) Inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA. International Journal of Parasitology52: 511-517.

Refereed and Published Conference papers:

  • Crampton, A., Vanniasinkam, T. and Ragusa A.T. 2008 Microbial vodcasting –supplementing laboratory time with vodcasts of key microbial skills. In A. Hugman and K. Placing (Eds) Symposium Proceedings: Visualisation and Concept Development, UniServe Science, The University of Sydney, 171�.
  • Ragusa A.T. and Crampton A. 2008. A Tale of Two Cities: Who has the cleanest drinking water, Melbourne or Sydney? The Australian Sociological Association conference, Melbourne December 2008.
  • Ragusa A. T. & Crampton A. 2007. Are there parasites in your h2o? sociology of risk& science news. TASA & SAANZ Joint Conference 2007, Auckland New Zealand, 2007.
  • Walkden-Brown, S.W., Reeve, I. Thompson, L.J., Kahn, L.P., Crampton A., Larson,J.W., Woodgate, R.G.,James, P.J., de Fegely, C.R. and Williams, S.H. 2006. IPMs project benchmarking survey: A national survey of parasite control practices. In Proceedings of the Australian Sheep Veterinary Society, 16. Edited by C. Trengrove. Australian Sheep Veterinary Society, 2006.
  • Kahn, L.P., Walkden-Brown S.W., Scrivener, C.J. and Crampton A. 2006. A structured, evidence-based approach as an aid when deciding the need for anthelmintic treatment of sheep. In Proceedings of the Australian Sheep Veterinary Society, 16: Edited by C. Trengrove. Australian Sheep Veterinary Society, 2006.

Top of page

Top of page