Rebecca Spindler (born in Melbourne) is the head of science and conservation at non-profit conservation organisation Bush Heritage Australia. She previously was the manager of research and conservation at Taronga Conservation Society Australia, in the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). Background Spindler's PhD on marsupial reproduction at the University of Melbourne led her to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. There, Rebecca managed a laboratory and integrated reproduction, her own area of expertise with other disciplines of science to conserve species. She spent five giant panda breeding seasons in the Wolong Nature Reserve, coordinating the Smithsonian's Giant Panda and Wild China Programmes. During this same period she established the Neotropical Carnivore Initiative and with colleagues throughout the Americas, embarking on a multidisciplinary program aimed at improving the health, reproduction and conservation of jaguars. In 2007, she joined the team at Taronga as manager of research and conservation, coordinating and facilitating the research of the zoo science team investigating wildlife health, ecology, behaviour, reproduction, genetics and nutrition. Spindler also helped Taronga protect species and their habitats through the Taronga Field Conservation Grants. Publications Total citations: 323. H index: 10 Peer-reviewed papers Spindler R.E., M.B. Renfree and D.K. Gardner. 1995. Metabolic assessment of wallaby blastocysts during embryonic diapause and subsequent reactivation. Reproduction, Fertility and Development 7, 1157–1162. Spindler R.E., M.B. Renfree and D.K. Gardner. 1996. Carbohydrate uptake by quiescent and reactivating mouse blastocysts. Journal of Experimental Zoology 276, 132–137. Spindler R.E., M.B. Renfree, G. Shaw and D.K. Gardner. 1998. Reactivating tammar wallaby blastocysts oxidise glucose. Biology of Reproduction 58, 1425–1431. Spindler R.E., M.B. Renfree, G. Shaw and D.K. Gardner. 1998. Reactivating tammar wallaby blastocysts oxidise fatty acids and amino acids. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 115, 79–86. Spindler R.E., M.B. Renfree and D.K. Gardner. 1998. Mouse embryos used as a bioassay to determine control of marsupial embryonic diapause. Journal of Experimental Zoology 283, 590–599. Spindler R.E. and D.E. Wildt. 1999. Circannual variations in intraovarian oocyte but not epididymal sperm quality in the domestic cat. Biology of Reproduction 61, 188–194. Spindler R.E., B. Pukazhenthi and D.E. Wildt. 2000. Oocyte metabolism predicts the development of cat embryos to blastocyst in vitro. Molecular Reproduction and Development 56, 163–171. Huang, Y., D.S. Li, H.M. Zhang, J. Du, G.Q. Zhang, P.Y Wang, J.G. Howard, R. Spindler, B. Durrant and M.A. Olson. 2000. Electroejaculation and semen cryopreservation in giant pandas. Journal of Sichuan Teachers College