Tift, Michael S

Assistant Professor

positions

Assistant Professor, Biology and Marine Biology , College of Science and Engineering

Originally from Ohio, I received a B.S. and M.S. from Sonoma State University on several different aspects of physiology in deep-diving northern elephant seals. I then went on to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to earn my Ph.D. studying hypoxia tolerance and carbon monoxide (CO) production in deep-diving mammals. My postdoctoral training was at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and focused on the investigation of endogenous carbon monoxide (CO) production in a high-altitude human population in Peru.
My lab is based in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at UNCW. I am also currently the Director of the UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Program.

Tift, Michael S

Contact Info

tiftm@uncw.edu

910.962.2777

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Selected Publications

Academic Article
- Potentiating the effect of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer using gas-entrapping materials. Biomaterials. 123097. 2025-01-01
- Two decades of three-dimensional movement data from adult female northern elephant seals. Scientific Data. 11. 2024-12-01
- Examining Bergmann's rule in a cosmopolitan marine mammal, the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops spp.). Marine Mammal Science. 40. 2024-10-01
- Modulation of diabetic wound healing using carbon monoxide gas-entrapping materials. Device. 2:100320. 2024-05-01
- Oral Carbon Monoxide Enhances Autophagy Modulation in Prostate, Pancreatic, and Lung Cancers. Advanced Science. 11. 2024-03-01
- Preserved peak exercise capacity in Andean highlanders with excessive erythrocytosis both before and after isovolumic hemodilution. Journal of Applied Physiology. 134:36-49. 2023-01-01
- Time Domains of Hypoxia Responses and -Omics Insights. Frontiers in Physiology. 13. 2022-08-01
- Evolved increases in hemoglobin-oxygen affinity and the Bohr effect coincided with the aquatic specialization of penguins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118. 2021-03-01
- Ontogeny of carbon monoxide-related gene expression in a deep-diving marine mammal.. Frontiers in Physiology. 2021-01-01
- Adaptive Potential of the Heme Oxygenase/Carbon Monoxide Pathway During Hypoxia. Frontiers in Physiology. 11. 2020-07-01
- Stroke effort and relative lung volume influence heart rate in diving sea lions. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2020-01-01
- Stroke effort and relative lung volume influence heart rate in diving sea lions. Journal of Experimental Biology.. . 223. 2020-01-01
- Heart rates, heart rate profiles, and electrocardiograms in three killer whales, a beluga, and a pilot whale: An exploratory investigation. Marine Mammal Science. 35:1112-1132. 2019-07-01
- Time Domains of Hypoxia Adaptation—Elephant Seals Stand Out Among Divers. Frontiers in Physiology. 10. 2019-06-01
- Inferring prey size variation from mandible acceleration in northern elephant seals.. Marine Mammal Science. 2019-01-01
- The extra burden of motherhood: reduced dive duration associated with pregnancy status in a deep-diving mammal, the northern elephant seal. Biology Letters. 14. 2018-02-01
- Anterior vena caval oxygen profiles in a deep-diving California sea lion: arteriovenous shunts, a central venous oxygen store, and oxygenation during lung collapse.. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2018-01-01
- Effects of inhalational anesthesia on blood gases and pH in California sea lions. Marine Mammal Science. 33:726-737. 2017-07-01
- Heart rate regulation in diving sea lions: the vagus nerve rules. Journal of Experimental Biology. 220:1372-1381. 2017-04-01
- Flipper stroke rate and venous oxygen levels in free-ranging California sea lions.. The Journal of Experimental Biology. 220:1533-1540. 2017-01-01
- Variation in adrenal and thyroid hormones with life-history stage in juvenile northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris).. General and Comparative Endocrinology. 252:111-118. 2017-01-01
- Regional variability in diving physiology and behavior in a widely distributed air-breathing marine predator, the South American sea lionOtaria byronia. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2016-01-01
- Adrenal sensitivity to stress is maintained despite variation in baseline glucocorticoids in moulting seals.. Conservation Physiology. 3. 2015-01-01
- Elevated carboxyhemoglobin in a marine mammal, the northern elephant seal. Journal of Experimental Biology. 217:1752-1757. 2014-05-01
- Causes of death in preweaned northern elephant seal pups (Mirounga angustirostris, Gill, 1866), Año Nuevo State Reserve, California, 2012. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation. 26:320-326. 2014-03-01
- Isolation of progenitor cells from the blubber of northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) in order to obtain an in vitro adipocyte model.. Marine Mammal Science. 31:764-773. 2014-01-01
- Development enhances hypometabolism in northern elephant seal pups (Mirounga angustirostris). Functional Ecology. 27:1155-1165. 2013-10-01
- Seasonal variations in plasma vitellogenin and sex steroids in male and female Eastern Box Turtles, Terrapene carolina carolina. General and Comparative Endocrinology. 180:48-55. 2013-01-01
- Glucose oxidation and nonoxidative glucose disposal during prolonged fasts of the northern elephant seal pup (Mirounga angustirostris). American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 303:R562-R570. 2012-09-01
- Apnea stimulates the adaptive response to oxidative stress in elephant seal pups. Journal of Experimental Biology. 214:4193-4200. 2011-12-01
Document
- Activation of Heme Metabolism Promotes Tissue Health After Intraarticular Injury or Surgical Exposure. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

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