About Me
My principle aim is to understand how other animals perceive their environment. As arrogant humans we tend to assume we are the pinnacle of evolution, however, certainly in sensory terms this is far from true. By taking an approach to sensory systems and the colours of nature based around visual ecology but also includes physiology, anatomy, behaviour and neural integration, I hope to decode the ‘languages’ of colour and polarisation.
To answer such questions, I look at neuroscience in the real world – that is in nature and not the lab environment (mostly). I am more interested in the retinal design of a mantis shrimp than a mouse and the brain design of an octopus than a rat.
The mantis shrimp (stomatopod crustacean to be more scientific and long-wordy) is a stand-out in my research and in terms of vision. It has 4 times as many photoreceptors (cone equivalents) in its eyes than the comparatively colour-blind human eye and sees a form of light (polarized light) that we cannot visualize at all. The optical design of its visual system is a rich source of bio-inspired design translating through to satellite design, computer memory, early cancer detection and underwater navigation. Mantis shrimps are often found on coral reefs, a rapidly disappearing habitat.
Over the last 25 years, like many, I have become acutely aware of man’s influence on both the reef and the deep-sea and run / have run two projects to raise awareness, The Deep Australia Project, and CoralWatch, the latter the world’s largest citizen-science-based coral health assessment program (137 countries, 12 languages).
The communication of science to the world beyond the laboratory is a passion and I have helped in the making of over 50 documentaries including “Chasing Coral”, a multi-award winning look at coral reef decline and in recent years have been fortunate to work with Sir David Attenborough on some of his documentaries revealing the wonder of nature. Stay tuned to participate in the “What Can I Do” project, an emerging behavioural change project coming through CoralWatch and looking at training man, not mantis shrimp. Easy – with the right reward – but slow learners compared to shrimp.
sensoryecologyuq.com 