Course Faculty and Lecturers

Course Directors

Bruce Carlson
Washington University 

The Carlson lab combines electrophysiology, neuroanatomy, computational modeling, and behavioral analysis to study information processing in the electrosensory systems of weakly electric fish. These fish are phylogenetically and phenotypically diverse. They are also well suited to establishing direct links between the physiology of individual neurons and quantitative characteristics of natural behaviors. They are therefore an attractive system for addressing basic questions about information processing by sensory systems and the mechanisms of evolutionary change in behavior.

Lauren O'Connell
Stanford University

Lauren O'Connell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Stanford University. She studies amphibians to learn how animals adapt their behavior and physiology to changing environments. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and then started her own lab at Harvard University as a Bauer Fellow before joining the Stanford faculty in 2017. Projects in the lab include investigating parent-offspring interactions and the physiology of chemical defenses in poison frogs.