Her research focuses on the function and evolution of animal coloration, particularly colour change and colour polymorphism. She has worked on a wide variety of species in different parts of the world including chameleons in South Africa, gliding lizards in Malaysia and numerous species across Australia. Stuart-Fox obtained her PhD at the University of Queensland, Australia in 2003 before spending four years at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa pursuing postdoctoral research on colour change in chameleons. She was an ARC Australian Research Fellow from 2010-2015 and won the International L’Oréal-UNESCO Special Fellowship for 2013.