About Me
Research Directions
A passion for finding unseen marine creatures and my curiosity of their sensory world drove me on the way to do research. I am interested in cephalopod diversity and their sensory ecology. More specifically, I have been able to sample surface waters as well as investigating deep-sea habitats down to below 2,000 metres, both with cameras and nets. Aside from the excitement of working at sea, investigating the cephalopod visual system through laboratory work (e.g. microspectrophotometry, electroretinogram, magnetic resonance imaging), has uncovered new adaptation mechanisms of this soft-bodied creature in both eyes and brain. My current research is continuing to describe and explain the new retinal design elements, undertake more behavioural observations on both shallow and deep-living species large and small.
Cephalopods (e.g. octopus, squid and cuttlefish) have the most complicated central nervous system (CNS) of all invertebrates at both anatomical and functional levels as demonstrated by the pioneering neuroanatomical work of Cajal and Young decades or indeed more than a century ago. The brain of an octopus has about the same number of neurons as that of a rabbit and seven times more than a mouse. Unlocking the cephalopod brain is a challenge in animal neuroscience. Mapping the brainwide neural connections of these species has been identified as the key to addressing their complex neural network and adaptations. My current project is also investigating cephalopod central nervous system using new ways (e.g. diffusion MRI and probabilistic tractography) to analyse and record the elements and interactions of this sophisticated nervous system, addressing knowledge gaps in neural connectivity, functional circuits and associated behaviours.
Education/Career
2000 BSC Department of Zoology, National Chung-Hsin University, TAIWAN
2003 MSc Institute of Marine Biology, National Sun Yat-Sen University, TAIWAN
2005 -2008 Research Technician – Marine Research Station, Academia Sinica, TAIWAN
2014 PhD Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA
sensoryecologyuq.com 