1. The physiological ecology of thermal relations of amphibians and reptiles to include determinations of the factors which influence lethal temperatures, critical thermal maxima and minima, thermal selection, and thermoregulatory behavior.

2. The physiological ecology of amphibians and reptiles from diverse habitats to include synergistic processes which are involved in acclimation to environmental factors that influence gas exchange and metabolic rate.

3. The role of the parietal eye-pineal complex and melatonin in thermoregulation of lower vertebrates; the effect of hypo- and hyperthermic pharamacological agents on the behavioral thermoregulation of ectothermic vertebrates.

4. The role of melatonin in ageing.