Honour Students

Meet the students completing their honours/master’s with our lab!

Daniel Eisenhauer

Daniel is a master’s student studying colour and visual species recognition in soldier crabs.

Torin O’Connell

About Me:

As a child who once feared the ocean and could hardly swim, my journey into marine biology has certainly been an interesting one. I’ve always been intrinsically tied to nature, but the confidence to venture into the wild had held me back. The journey began at 16, where I’d travelled to Las Vegas and forced myself to do the “Stratosphere Jump”; a 261m drop that taught me a key lesson: whatever it is, just try it, you won’t die (probably)! Shortly after, I got to snorkel at Lady Elliot Island – my first encounter with the Great Barrier Reef. The crystal-clear water, the playful reef sharks and the beautifully complex coral structure all created this euphonic orchestra that had me addicted. From that point onward, I’ve dedicated just about all my time to studying the symphony of the world’s ecosystems, whether through study, overseas internships, or expeditions in my free time. 

Research Directions:

Having freshly graduated with my Bachelor of Science, I’ve just begun an Honours program studying one of the strangest creatures to walk, swim and crawl this earth – the octopus. More specifically, the notoriously deadly, Blue-Lined Octopus, who despite their reputation, are the greatest mothers on the planet! Unlike most octopus species, the female, Blue-Lined Octopus will carry their brood with them everywhere they go! They will stay with their brood, protecting them ’til death do they part. My research will be studying the extent and specificity of their maternity; determining whether they can discriminate unhealthy offspring and testing to see if they can distinguish their own offspring from other offspring. In doing so, we aim to assign a function to a region of the brain that remains active in female Blue-Lined Octopus despite their post-reproductive neurodegeneration.