Peter Frappell (affectionately known as Frapps) died on 15 December 2024 at home with his family. He lived well for 9 years and seven weeks after receiving a metastatic lung cancer diagnosis that was initially predicted to take his life within 6 weeks. Frapps’ approach to his cancer diagnosis unsurprisingly mirrored his approach to life; he was willing to challenge the status quo. He was pragmatic and creative, yet stubborn. His enthusiasm for life and sense of fun was infectious, playful and unwavering. Life was always an adventure for Frapps, and those who spent any time with him went along for the ride. He leaves us with memories, a swag of stories with the potential to out-do any comedic movie plot and a huge positive legacy.
Frapps was born and raised in Tasmania, Australia and completed his Bachelor of Science (Zoology) with Honours at the University of Tasmania. He then accomplished his PhD at Flinders University, Adelaide on ‘Metabolism, respiration and thermogenesis in marsupial joeys: a comparative approach’ with Russell (Russ) Baudinette. Frapps undertook postdoctoral training at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) as a Medical Research Council International Fellow under the mentorship of Jacopo Mortola. Here, Frapps investigated various aspects of respiratory system development in species ranging from the 8 g broad-nosed bat, newborn human infants and a 47 kg capybara. Jacopo recently reflected that ‘Frapps was phenomenal at solving practical problems with whatever stuff was around, and always with elegant simplicity. He could have built a functional cardio-respiratory lab from pieces of garbage’. After his postdoctoral fellowship, he was recruited to La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) as a lecturer, where he established his laboratory and expanded his research from studies of the development of the respiratory system in mammals to investigations of the metabolic, respiratory and thermoregulatory physiological adaptations of animals to changing environmental conditions.
Frapps’ curiosity for comparative physiology was remarkable – essentially driven by the theory that ‘if it moved and breathed, it needed to be measured’. He was always amazed that he got paid to do what he loved. He relentlessly thought about novel experiments and the challenge of how to measure physiological phenomena, whether it was a new species of insect during his Galapagos Islands expeditions, guinea pigs at high altitude in the Peruvian Andes, newborn marsupials that barely have a lung, trans-Himalayan migrating geese, or a slug slithering around the stem of his wine glass which was expertly perched on the rim of the hot-tub in his verdant home garden. Frapps was meticulous and dedicated to improving the accuracy of whole-body plethysmographs, which he designed with creativity. These were adapted for a range of species varying from the tiniest newborn marsupials (13 mg) to guinea pigs, armadillos, and to the cumbersome 20 kg wombat, just to name a few.
Frapps’ academic curiosity and boundless energy were contagious. During his career, he trained many masters and honours students, 12 PhD students and 5 postdoctoral fellows (many of whom went on to become faculty at national and international institutions). With them, he produced 110+ publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Cell, Science and 15 articles in Journal of Experimental Biology. Harder to quantify is the scope and impact of Frapps’ generosity. He and his wife Deirdre welcomed countless students and academics into both his lab and their home, inspiring a legacy of mentorship and camaraderie which radiates through our scientific community. A tribute to Frapps’ career was published as a Special Issue of the Journal of Comparative Physiology B in 2021 (Polymeropoulos and Milsom, 2021), which included a satirical portrayal of his exuberant personality, idiosyncratic work habits and provocative supervisory behaviour (Clark et al., 2021). This study formalized the colloquial term Frappellian Motion and defined it as ‘the frantic, non-linear acceleration of matter and time accompanying interactions with Peter B. Frappell’.
While at La Trobe University, Frapps undertook the role of the Head of the Zoology Department, commencing his parallel career as an administrator. He then became the Associate Dean of Science, Technology and Engineering and then the Director of Research Development in the Faculty of Law and Management at La Trobe.
In 2008, Frapps returned to his home state and the University of Tasmania. He undertook higher administrative roles within the university including the Dean of Graduate Research, Executive Director (International and Strategic Partnerships), Director for Research Planning, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement). However, these roles did not hold him back from simultaneously co-leading a multidisciplinary team involved in the research, development and application of new technologies for improving aquaculture as Co-head of the UTAS/CSIRO Climate Change Physiology Laboratory in the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, as well as continuing field studies in Tibet, Mongolia and Peru.
Following his diagnosis, Frapps was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor at the University of Tasmania and created a consultancy and advisory company named Tridactyl Projects which specialised in higher education and research training strategy, international business development and partnerships, and data analytics.
Academic and administrative accomplishments aside, Frapps will always be remembered for his vast intellect, quick wit and ability to joke about everything, including his medical condition. On reviewing an MRI showing significant tumours in his brain he quipped that ‘this proved his hypothesis that you only need half a brain to work in university administration’.
Frapps always had two loves in life: science and his family. He is survived by his wife Deirdre, daughter Claire, son Huon and granddaughter Florence.
