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Classes have just ended, which means we have lots of opportunities to talk about our research. Nick and Aaron gave a talk today at the Neuroscience and Behavior Symposium about their work on social dominance and black-capped chickadee vocalizations. They’ll … Continue reading
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The Gall lab attended the Hudson Valley Life Sciences Group Meeting at SUNY New Paltz on April 28th. Vassar College was well represented as several other lab groups were also in attendance. Our two seniors, Nick Fancher and Aaron Harvey, … Continue reading
Congratulations to the Gall Lab’s Julia Beatini on her honorable mention in the Goldwater Scholarship competition! Julia has been working on our saw-whet owl project since her sophomore year and is planning to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
No one wants to be eaten by anything if they can help it, and so animals have developed emergency contingencies to avoid predation. A common response to fear of predation is often changing performance or fitness throughout all stages of … Continue reading
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A compass works by aligning its pin with the Earth’s magnetic field and pointing North, allowing humans to navigate through unfamiliar environments. Though we know now that human compasses are not 100% accurate due to local disturbances in the Earth’s … Continue reading
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An invasive species can create havoc in an environment and are one of the leading threats to native wildlife. They grow and reproduce quickly and often negatively impact the ecosystem through direct threats such as predation, out-competing native species for … Continue reading
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Ants rely on chemical information to make sense of their environment. This includes everything from recognizing other ants to communicating about food sources. Ants are highly social creatures, and are very successful at using and shaping their environment. This particular … Continue reading
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The effects of anthropogenic noise and light pollution are increasingly being studied. Less studied is how anthropogenic odors can interfere with insects’ olfaction. Based on a study conducted by Riffel et al. (2014), the neural representations of important scents can … Continue reading
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Imagine a fish that can lose its eyes depending on the environment in which is it born. Astyanax mexicanus, reared in the limestone caves of Northeast Mexico, exhibits eyes degeneration, small eye sockets, and albinism. However, this phenomenon is not … Continue reading
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It’s certainly no secret that ants lead a busy life. From foraging to fighting off predators, knowing how to navigate is very important for these tiny insects. Researchers Joseph L Woodgate, Cornelia Buehlmann, and Thomas S. Collett of the University … Continue reading
