The lab (on Zoom). December 2021.
humans.
Noam Miller Associate Professor
Noam joined the faculty at Laurier in 2014. Before that he was a post-doctoral researcher in Iain Couzin's lab at Princeton, in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. He got his PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto where he worked with Sara Shettleworth and Robert Gerlai. Before that he got a BSc in Biology from Tel-Aviv University, where he also worked with Ilan Golani. His research spans the range from comparative cognition to behavioral ecology but his primary interest is in how taking place in a group shapes individual cognitive functions such as learning and decision-making. Noam is an associate editor at Animal Cognition and serves as the Secretary of the Comparative Cognition Society. [Noam's CV]
Noam joined the faculty at Laurier in 2014. Before that he was a post-doctoral researcher in Iain Couzin's lab at Princeton, in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. He got his PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto where he worked with Sara Shettleworth and Robert Gerlai. Before that he got a BSc in Biology from Tel-Aviv University, where he also worked with Ilan Golani. His research spans the range from comparative cognition to behavioral ecology but his primary interest is in how taking place in a group shapes individual cognitive functions such as learning and decision-making. Noam is an associate editor at Animal Cognition and serves as the Secretary of the Comparative Cognition Society. [Noam's CV]
Maggie-Rose Johnston Graduate Student (MSc)
Maggie has started her Master's in Behavioral Neuroscience at Laurier. A BSc Honours graduate from McGill, her undergraduate project under Dr. Sarah Woolley has whet her appetite for research. With a long held love of reptiles, social behavior, and learning, she is eager to examine how developmental conditions in the egg can impact cognition in corn snakes (P.guttatus).
Maggie has started her Master's in Behavioral Neuroscience at Laurier. A BSc Honours graduate from McGill, her undergraduate project under Dr. Sarah Woolley has whet her appetite for research. With a long held love of reptiles, social behavior, and learning, she is eager to examine how developmental conditions in the egg can impact cognition in corn snakes (P.guttatus).
Gokulan Nagabaskaran Graduate Student (PhD)
Goku is starting his first year as a PhD student in Behavioural Neuroscience at Laurier. He finished his Master’s by Research in Animal Behaviour and Welfare from the University of Lincoln (UK) under the supervision of Dr. Anna Wilkinson, after completion of his HBSc in Zoology at the University of Guelph. His research during this time observed reptilian cognition, with the first portion focused on enriching corn snakes and the latter focused on comparative odour recognition amongst snakes, lizards and tortoises. After his Master’s, Goku spent two years working with a pharmaceutical lab where he studied the effects of novel medicine on animal models. During this time, he also became experienced with strict FDA guidelines, data analysis for various testing procedures and acted as a prosector for terminal studies. Currently he hopes to resume his studies and build on his previous research of snake cognition by observing whether venom quality and quantity can be modified by enrichment.
Goku is starting his first year as a PhD student in Behavioural Neuroscience at Laurier. He finished his Master’s by Research in Animal Behaviour and Welfare from the University of Lincoln (UK) under the supervision of Dr. Anna Wilkinson, after completion of his HBSc in Zoology at the University of Guelph. His research during this time observed reptilian cognition, with the first portion focused on enriching corn snakes and the latter focused on comparative odour recognition amongst snakes, lizards and tortoises. After his Master’s, Goku spent two years working with a pharmaceutical lab where he studied the effects of novel medicine on animal models. During this time, he also became experienced with strict FDA guidelines, data analysis for various testing procedures and acted as a prosector for terminal studies. Currently he hopes to resume his studies and build on his previous research of snake cognition by observing whether venom quality and quantity can be modified by enrichment.
Tanya Shoot Graduate Student (PhD)
Tanya is in the fourth year of their PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience at Laurier. They are a BSc Honours graduate of the Neuroscience program at the University of Western Ontario where they worked under the supervision of Dr. David Sherry, in collaboration with Dr. Susan Healy (University of St. Andrews, Scotland). While at Western, they studied how zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) change their nest-building behaviour to accommodate different ambient temperature conditions. From there, they earned their MSc with Dr. David Sherry and Dr. Mark Daley, which delved into how computational models can bring insight into avian incubation. For their dissertation, they are creating a theoretical model to understand how individual differences affect group behaviour. They will then compare the theoretical model predictions to empirical tests with a variety of species (fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster; zebra fish, Danio rerio; guppies, Poecilia reticulata, and cowbirds, Molothrus ater).
Tanya is in the fourth year of their PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience at Laurier. They are a BSc Honours graduate of the Neuroscience program at the University of Western Ontario where they worked under the supervision of Dr. David Sherry, in collaboration with Dr. Susan Healy (University of St. Andrews, Scotland). While at Western, they studied how zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) change their nest-building behaviour to accommodate different ambient temperature conditions. From there, they earned their MSc with Dr. David Sherry and Dr. Mark Daley, which delved into how computational models can bring insight into avian incubation. For their dissertation, they are creating a theoretical model to understand how individual differences affect group behaviour. They will then compare the theoretical model predictions to empirical tests with a variety of species (fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster; zebra fish, Danio rerio; guppies, Poecilia reticulata, and cowbirds, Molothrus ater).
Morgan Skinner Graduate Student (PhD)
Morgan is a third year PhD student in Behavioural Neuroscience. After completing a double major in history and psychology from Wilfrid Laurier, Morgan earned his B.Ed from the University of Western Ontario. Following his accreditation with the Ontario College of Teachers, he spent the next nine years teaching in Canada and overseas. Morgan returned to Laurier to complete an H.B.Sc. Psych, and to pursue his dream of researching snakes. His research with the Collective Cognition Lab will seek to explore social behaviours in Eastern Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis).
Morgan is a third year PhD student in Behavioural Neuroscience. After completing a double major in history and psychology from Wilfrid Laurier, Morgan earned his B.Ed from the University of Western Ontario. Following his accreditation with the Ontario College of Teachers, he spent the next nine years teaching in Canada and overseas. Morgan returned to Laurier to complete an H.B.Sc. Psych, and to pursue his dream of researching snakes. His research with the Collective Cognition Lab will seek to explore social behaviours in Eastern Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis).
Michelle Chow Undergraduate Student (Thesis)
Michelle is a 2nd-year Psychology and Neuroscience major with a minor in Biology and Chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University. In the Collective Cognition lab, she assists in coding snake personality experiments and looks to get involved in a new python neuroscience experiment. Michelle is the most interested in neuroscience, biopsychology, and clinical psychology. Michelle is looking forward to learning more about animal cognition and collective behaviour in the lab.
Michelle is a 2nd-year Psychology and Neuroscience major with a minor in Biology and Chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University. In the Collective Cognition lab, she assists in coding snake personality experiments and looks to get involved in a new python neuroscience experiment. Michelle is the most interested in neuroscience, biopsychology, and clinical psychology. Michelle is looking forward to learning more about animal cognition and collective behaviour in the lab.
Kree-Lynn Croff Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Kree-Lynn is a 3rd-year Psychology and Neuroscience student with a minor in Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her main interests are within behavioural and cognitive neuroscience, particularly in learning and memory, but she also enjoys classes in chemistry and biology. She hopes to eventually pursue Alzheimer’s and Dementia research. Kree-Lynn is excited and looking forward to her first volunteer experience in the Collective Cognition Lab.
Kree-Lynn is a 3rd-year Psychology and Neuroscience student with a minor in Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her main interests are within behavioural and cognitive neuroscience, particularly in learning and memory, but she also enjoys classes in chemistry and biology. She hopes to eventually pursue Alzheimer’s and Dementia research. Kree-Lynn is excited and looking forward to her first volunteer experience in the Collective Cognition Lab.
Bethany Elwood Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Bethany is a 4th-year psychology and biology major with a minor in chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University. For her first year in the Collective Cognition lab, she is excited to help with data collection and looks forward to updating her knowledge of existing research in animal behaviour weekly. She enjoys taking classes in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience, with clinical psychology also being of interest to her. She is looking forward to the opportunities that working with the researchers in the Collective Cognition Lab brings.
Bethany is a 4th-year psychology and biology major with a minor in chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University. For her first year in the Collective Cognition lab, she is excited to help with data collection and looks forward to updating her knowledge of existing research in animal behaviour weekly. She enjoys taking classes in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience, with clinical psychology also being of interest to her. She is looking forward to the opportunities that working with the researchers in the Collective Cognition Lab brings.
Kierin McDonald Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Keirin is a fourth year Psychology and Neuroscience major with a minor in Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University. This is his first-year volunteering in the Collective Cognition lab. His major interests lie in behavioural neuroscience and biopsychology. Keirin enjoys exploring new areas of science and looks forward to contributing to the lab.
Keirin is a fourth year Psychology and Neuroscience major with a minor in Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University. This is his first-year volunteering in the Collective Cognition lab. His major interests lie in behavioural neuroscience and biopsychology. Keirin enjoys exploring new areas of science and looks forward to contributing to the lab.
Daniel Moussa Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Daniel is a 5th-year psychology and neuroscience student with a minor in biology at Wilfrid Laurier University. With a drive to learn, Daniel rooted his preferences in behavioral neuroscience as well as learning and perception psychology. This is his first-year volunteering and seeks to learn more about the collective cognition and behavior of animals while assisting in the lab.
Daniel is a 5th-year psychology and neuroscience student with a minor in biology at Wilfrid Laurier University. With a drive to learn, Daniel rooted his preferences in behavioral neuroscience as well as learning and perception psychology. This is his first-year volunteering and seeks to learn more about the collective cognition and behavior of animals while assisting in the lab.
Adam Rak Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Adam is a second-year psychology student at Wilfrid Laurier University looking to go into the research specialist stream with an applied social research option. Adam has a passion for animals and is interested in behavioural neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and social psychology. Adam is looking forward to volunteer and learn more about the collective behaviour of the animals in the lab!
Adam is a second-year psychology student at Wilfrid Laurier University looking to go into the research specialist stream with an applied social research option. Adam has a passion for animals and is interested in behavioural neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and social psychology. Adam is looking forward to volunteer and learn more about the collective behaviour of the animals in the lab!
Vanessa Ralph Undergraduate Student (Thesis)
Vanessa is a fifth-year Biology and Psychology student with a minor in Chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University. Vanessa's dream for the future would be to perform dementia research. Particular areas of interest include biopsychology, cognitive psychology, and abnormal psychology. Vanessa looks forward to learning about collective cognition and behaviour of animals while assisting in the lab.
Vanessa is a fifth-year Biology and Psychology student with a minor in Chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University. Vanessa's dream for the future would be to perform dementia research. Particular areas of interest include biopsychology, cognitive psychology, and abnormal psychology. Vanessa looks forward to learning about collective cognition and behaviour of animals while assisting in the lab.
Liat Soref Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Liat is a Health Science major at Wilfrid Laurier University pursuing a minor in Biology and Psychology. She is currently in her third year of study and is volunteering for the first time in the Collective Cognition lab. She is excited to start work on data collection and learn new lab techniques. Liat’s main interests are abnormal psychology and neuroscience, and she is particularly interested in the study of abnormal personalities in animals and its impact on collective cognition
Liat is a Health Science major at Wilfrid Laurier University pursuing a minor in Biology and Psychology. She is currently in her third year of study and is volunteering for the first time in the Collective Cognition lab. She is excited to start work on data collection and learn new lab techniques. Liat’s main interests are abnormal psychology and neuroscience, and she is particularly interested in the study of abnormal personalities in animals and its impact on collective cognition
Non-humans (current).
Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Our lab works mostly with zebrafish, a small schooling fish from northern India and Nepal. Zebrafish are a common pet store fish. They are extensively used by geneticists, developmental biologists, and neuroscientists because they are small, easy to work with, have vertebrae, and spend much of their time transparent. They are a tightly schooling species which makes them ideal for studying collective behavior. We have done studies on their collective movement, how they make social choices, their "personalities" (yes, fish have personalities), and how they learn. More on the Research page.
Our lab works mostly with zebrafish, a small schooling fish from northern India and Nepal. Zebrafish are a common pet store fish. They are extensively used by geneticists, developmental biologists, and neuroscientists because they are small, easy to work with, have vertebrae, and spend much of their time transparent. They are a tightly schooling species which makes them ideal for studying collective behavior. We have done studies on their collective movement, how they make social choices, their "personalities" (yes, fish have personalities), and how they learn. More on the Research page.
Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
The lab has also used guppies, another common research subject, to study mate choice copying and personality (in collaboration with Dr. David White's lab). Female guppies make choices about who to mate with that are based, in part, on the colorfulness and pattern of each potential mate's tail. Some females copy the choices made by other females. More on this on the Research page. We are currently studying how personality affects collective behaviors and innovation.
The lab has also used guppies, another common research subject, to study mate choice copying and personality (in collaboration with Dr. David White's lab). Female guppies make choices about who to mate with that are based, in part, on the colorfulness and pattern of each potential mate's tail. Some females copy the choices made by other females. More on this on the Research page. We are currently studying how personality affects collective behaviors and innovation.
Hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus)
We recently acquired some western hognose snakes, possibly the cutest of the snakes. We are studying how adding enrichments to their housing can affect their venom production and cognition.
We recently acquired some western hognose snakes, possibly the cutest of the snakes. We are studying how adding enrichments to their housing can affect their venom production and cognition.
Corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus)
We recently started a corn snake lab, with snakes that we incubated and hatched ourselves. These snakes will help us explore social behavior.
We recently started a corn snake lab, with snakes that we incubated and hatched ourselves. These snakes will help us explore social behavior.
Non-humans (FORMER).
Pigeon (Columba livia)
Pigeons are the workhorses of comparative psychology research. Our lab previously housed both homing and Silver King pigeons and had operant boxes to explore how social information is learned and combined with personal information. We are currently working on developing a virtual 3D operant box for the pigeons (more on that coming soon). This is all due to pigeons' unique vision. Learn more here.
Pigeons are the workhorses of comparative psychology research. Our lab previously housed both homing and Silver King pigeons and had operant boxes to explore how social information is learned and combined with personal information. We are currently working on developing a virtual 3D operant box for the pigeons (more on that coming soon). This is all due to pigeons' unique vision. Learn more here.
Quail (Coturnix japonica)
The lab had several coveys of female Japanese quail. In collaboration with Dr. Diano Marrone, PhD student Chelsey Damphousse explored how spatial learning and object recognition works in the quail brain.
The lab had several coveys of female Japanese quail. In collaboration with Dr. Diano Marrone, PhD student Chelsey Damphousse explored how spatial learning and object recognition works in the quail brain.
Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
In collaboration with Dr. Diano Marrone, we previously worked on social transmission of food preferences and exploration of novel environments in groups of rats. We also ran a study on implicit memory in rats, together with Dr. Paul Mallet. We are currently, in collaboration with Dr. Kristin Andrews, exploring how rat societies and their "cultures" may be formed and maintained in the face of immigration.
In collaboration with Dr. Diano Marrone, we previously worked on social transmission of food preferences and exploration of novel environments in groups of rats. We also ran a study on implicit memory in rats, together with Dr. Paul Mallet. We are currently, in collaboration with Dr. Kristin Andrews, exploring how rat societies and their "cultures" may be formed and maintained in the face of immigration.
A snake in our lab (Photo: Noam Miller)
Garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
There is shockingly little research on snake cognition and they do some very interesting things, cognitively. For three years, we had a lab full of Eastern garter snakes to study those things. Snakes are often considered asocial, which we think is wrong. For example, check out this image of a garter snake mating ball in Manitoba. That looks social to us. Our snake research was recently featured in Science.
There is shockingly little research on snake cognition and they do some very interesting things, cognitively. For three years, we had a lab full of Eastern garter snakes to study those things. Snakes are often considered asocial, which we think is wrong. For example, check out this image of a garter snake mating ball in Manitoba. That looks social to us. Our snake research was recently featured in Science.
Ball python (Python regius)
In collaboration with Drs. Bruce McKay and Paul Mallet, we studied how ball pythons learn about different odors, express preferences for odors, and encode those odors in their olfactory bulbs. The behavioral neuroscience of snakes is only a little better studied than their cognition.
In collaboration with Drs. Bruce McKay and Paul Mallet, we studied how ball pythons learn about different odors, express preferences for odors, and encode those odors in their olfactory bulbs. The behavioral neuroscience of snakes is only a little better studied than their cognition.
Former (human) Lab members.
Graduate Students:
Chelsey Damphousse (2015-2022; MSc & PhD). Chelsey's Master's thesis was on social transmission of food preferences in rats. Her PhD was on the neuroscience of spatial learning and object recognition in Japanese quail and pigeons. She was co-supervised for both degrees by Diano Marrone. Chelsey is now a post-doc in Minneapolis.
Hailey Katzman (2017-2019; MSc): Hailey's Master's thesis involved designing and implementing a technique for performing brain lesions in zebrafish, and exploring how lesions of their dorsal-lateral telencephalon affected their schooling behavior.
Jovan Poposki (2019-2021; MSc): Jovan's Master's thesis was on how people move around, use, and interact in their workspaces. Jovan created an agent-based model of this process which accurately predicted a lot of known behaviors.
Undergraduate Students:
Allyson Andrade (2016-17; Volunteer): Allyson helped run a lot of the quail and fish experiments in the lab.
Eric Armstrong (2016-17; Directed Studies): Eric's experiment expanded on earlier work on social information use in zebrafish. He also helped run other zebrafish and quail experiments and in coding videos of rat social foraging. His work was published here.
Ramy Ayoub (2015-17; Directed Studies): Ramy was one of the founding members of the lab and helped with the pigeon experiments at first. He then started his own experiment on flexible social information use in zebrafish, which was published here.
Caroline Baker (2017-19; Directed Studies): Caroline was a volunteer in the lab, then the lab manager, and then ran her own experiment on the effects of various drugs on 'personality' in fish. Then she graduated.
Megan Boardman (summer 2021; Volunteer): Megan helped run experiments on garter snakes and also did a lot of coding of the resulting videos.
Kyle Brubacher (2015-16; Volunteer): Kyle helped run a lot of different experiments on pigeons and fish, and also got involved in tracking videos.
Stefaniya Brown (2020-2021; Thesis): Stef's thesis examined how personality in garter snakes changes over the course of their development.
Debbie Hernandez Carmona (2016-17; Volunteer): Debbie helped run experiments on fish and quail and with coding videos of rats foraging together.
Jonah Cooper (2017-18; Volunteer): Jonah helped with fish social learning experiments and coding videos of rats and quail.
Dania Daanish (2021-2022; Directed Studies): Dania worked on staining and imaging our massive set of ball python brain slices. She spent many hours counting cells, which is about as much fun as it sounds.
Denisa Dica (2017-18; Volunteer): Denisa worked in Laurier's Science MakerLab while she was in the lab and helped us design and build some of our automated experimental apparati.
Nathan Figueredo (2019-20; Volunteer): Nathan ran a lot of zebrafish social experiments and helped with animal care during his time in the lab.
Troy Freiburger (2019-21; Thesis): Troy ran a massive project on self recognition in both garter snakes and pythons, which is ongoing, and which he is still involved with despite now being a grad student at UW. He also assisted with all our other snake experiments.
Arshya Garg (2019-20; Volunteer): Arshya helped run our endless zebrafish personality experiments.
Chanpreet Grewal (2018-19; Volunteer): Chanpreet volunteered in the lab and helped with a range of experiments.
Erika Gunning (2015-16; Thesis): Erika's thesis examined how social networks and dominance hierarchies correlate in groups of female Japanese quail.
Lauren Hytman (2018; Volunteer): Lauren ran some experiments on the quail and their ability to find food scattered in space.
Keren Ighalo (2020-2022; volunteer): Keren mostly helped out with coding videos, since COVID was raging while she was in the lab. She coded massive amounts of images of garter snakes socializing.
Mina Ishak (2016-17; Volunteer): Mina helped run zebrafish experiments on social information use.
Tharani Jeyakumar (2017-18; Volunteer): Tharani mostly helped run snake experiments and take care of the snakes.
Yukta Jotwani (2019-21; Thesis): Yukta started in the lab as a volunteer, helping run experiments on quail and fish. She then did her senior thesis on cultural transmission in rats.
Kevin Kadak (2017-19; Thesis). Kevin started out as a volunteer in the lab and then did his thesis on sequential collective choice in groups of zebrafish. His thesis was recently published in Proceedings B.
Leah Kearney (2016-17; Volunteer): Leah worked on all the projects in the lab and helped run mutliple differnt experiments. Mostly, she ran a lot of the quail dominance experiments.
Eden Kleinhandler (2016-18; Thesis): Eden started out as a volunteer in the lab helping out with lots of different experiments and video coding. She then did her thesis (co-supervised by Dr. Mike Wilkie in Biology) on brumation in goldfish and what it does to their memory.
Jamal Lewis (2019-20; Volunteer): Jamal helped run experiments on fish and snakes. He mostly took over the organization, training, and running of one of the zebrafish experiments. He also helped code videos of that experiment while we were all at home hiding from the coronavirus.
Alexandra Mahon (2018-19; Volunteer): Lexy helped out with a range of experiments and coding of videos during her time in the lab.
Ayden Malekjahani (2016-17; Thesis): Ayden's thesis explored how and whether individual differences ('personality') in quail contribute to their dominance hierarchies.
Sarah Moawad (2018-19; Volunteer): Sarah helped out with a range of fish and quail experiments and coding of snake videos during her time in the lab.
Caitlyn Pelkey (2021-2002; Volunteer): Caitlyn had the misfortune to spend her time in the lab during COVID, which meant she mostly got to code videos of snakes and meet up with everyone else on Zoom. Pandemics suck.
Kaitlin Petter (2015-16; Directed Studies): Kaitlin was one of the founding volunteers in the lab and help set up and run experiments with both pigeons and fish. Her directed studies project explored the somewhat neglected field of courtship and mating behaviors in zebrafish.
Bailey Rand (2021-2022; Thesis): Bailey's thesis explored whether guppies can use the surface of the water (from underneath) as a mirror to detect things they couldn't otherwise see (like hidden predators). The guppies took months to train, but Bailey persevered!
Rhyan Rodrigues (2018-19; Thesis): Rhyan's thesis explored how drugs affect collective decisions to avoid a group in zebrafish.
Sandy Salama (2019-20; Volunteer): Sandy helped run experiments on zebrafish and, when coronavirus shut down the lab, spent many hours coding fish behavior videos.
Mackenzie Schultz (2015-18; Lab Manager): Mackenzie did everything in the lab. She was the lab manager for three years until she graduated and went to grad school. She ran her own experiments (on social choice in quail), supervised everyone else, and kept the lab running, clean, and sane.
Britney Sekulovski (2019-22; Thesis): Britney volunteered in the lab for two years, working on basically everything (coding snake videos, running fish experiments, caring for the animals...), before doing her thesis on collective decision-making in zebrafish, for which she made resin fish. She also ran her own experiment on blind cave-fish at the same time, and was an NSERC Summer RA, twice.
Gitika Sharma (2017-18; Thesis): Gitika's thesis was on how personality in zebrafish correlates with their ability to learn spatial things. She also helped out with other fish experiments.
Ashley Siegel (2016-17; Volunteer): Ashley helped run quail and zebrafish experiments.
Madison Smith (2015-16; Thesis): Madison's thesis focused on consistent individual differences in zebrafish and how the composition of zebrafish groups affects their collective behavior.
Emily Staffiere (2016-18; Thesis): Emily started out as a volunteer in the lab working with pigeons, quail, and fish, and then did her immense thesis on how testosterone levels can explain dominance hierarchies in quail.
Jessica Star (2019; Volunteer): Jess helped run experiments on zebrafish social choice and personality.
Stefani Trovato (2016-17; Directed Studies): Stefani helped with several studies over the summer but her own project was on same-different learning in pigeons and how complex their representations are.
Brooke Vella (2021-2022; Thesis): Brooke's thesis was on what kinds of things garter snakes can learn. Since we know very little about this, Brooke tried several different things (observational conditioning; visual cues), most of which the snakes did not do well with.
Sarah Wahba (2015-16; Directed Studies): Sarah first volunteered in the lab, helping with a wide range of experiments, and then her directed studies helped develop our 3D operant box.
Chelsey Damphousse (2015-2022; MSc & PhD). Chelsey's Master's thesis was on social transmission of food preferences in rats. Her PhD was on the neuroscience of spatial learning and object recognition in Japanese quail and pigeons. She was co-supervised for both degrees by Diano Marrone. Chelsey is now a post-doc in Minneapolis.
Hailey Katzman (2017-2019; MSc): Hailey's Master's thesis involved designing and implementing a technique for performing brain lesions in zebrafish, and exploring how lesions of their dorsal-lateral telencephalon affected their schooling behavior.
Jovan Poposki (2019-2021; MSc): Jovan's Master's thesis was on how people move around, use, and interact in their workspaces. Jovan created an agent-based model of this process which accurately predicted a lot of known behaviors.
Undergraduate Students:
Allyson Andrade (2016-17; Volunteer): Allyson helped run a lot of the quail and fish experiments in the lab.
Eric Armstrong (2016-17; Directed Studies): Eric's experiment expanded on earlier work on social information use in zebrafish. He also helped run other zebrafish and quail experiments and in coding videos of rat social foraging. His work was published here.
Ramy Ayoub (2015-17; Directed Studies): Ramy was one of the founding members of the lab and helped with the pigeon experiments at first. He then started his own experiment on flexible social information use in zebrafish, which was published here.
Caroline Baker (2017-19; Directed Studies): Caroline was a volunteer in the lab, then the lab manager, and then ran her own experiment on the effects of various drugs on 'personality' in fish. Then she graduated.
Megan Boardman (summer 2021; Volunteer): Megan helped run experiments on garter snakes and also did a lot of coding of the resulting videos.
Kyle Brubacher (2015-16; Volunteer): Kyle helped run a lot of different experiments on pigeons and fish, and also got involved in tracking videos.
Stefaniya Brown (2020-2021; Thesis): Stef's thesis examined how personality in garter snakes changes over the course of their development.
Debbie Hernandez Carmona (2016-17; Volunteer): Debbie helped run experiments on fish and quail and with coding videos of rats foraging together.
Jonah Cooper (2017-18; Volunteer): Jonah helped with fish social learning experiments and coding videos of rats and quail.
Dania Daanish (2021-2022; Directed Studies): Dania worked on staining and imaging our massive set of ball python brain slices. She spent many hours counting cells, which is about as much fun as it sounds.
Denisa Dica (2017-18; Volunteer): Denisa worked in Laurier's Science MakerLab while she was in the lab and helped us design and build some of our automated experimental apparati.
Nathan Figueredo (2019-20; Volunteer): Nathan ran a lot of zebrafish social experiments and helped with animal care during his time in the lab.
Troy Freiburger (2019-21; Thesis): Troy ran a massive project on self recognition in both garter snakes and pythons, which is ongoing, and which he is still involved with despite now being a grad student at UW. He also assisted with all our other snake experiments.
Arshya Garg (2019-20; Volunteer): Arshya helped run our endless zebrafish personality experiments.
Chanpreet Grewal (2018-19; Volunteer): Chanpreet volunteered in the lab and helped with a range of experiments.
Erika Gunning (2015-16; Thesis): Erika's thesis examined how social networks and dominance hierarchies correlate in groups of female Japanese quail.
Lauren Hytman (2018; Volunteer): Lauren ran some experiments on the quail and their ability to find food scattered in space.
Keren Ighalo (2020-2022; volunteer): Keren mostly helped out with coding videos, since COVID was raging while she was in the lab. She coded massive amounts of images of garter snakes socializing.
Mina Ishak (2016-17; Volunteer): Mina helped run zebrafish experiments on social information use.
Tharani Jeyakumar (2017-18; Volunteer): Tharani mostly helped run snake experiments and take care of the snakes.
Yukta Jotwani (2019-21; Thesis): Yukta started in the lab as a volunteer, helping run experiments on quail and fish. She then did her senior thesis on cultural transmission in rats.
Kevin Kadak (2017-19; Thesis). Kevin started out as a volunteer in the lab and then did his thesis on sequential collective choice in groups of zebrafish. His thesis was recently published in Proceedings B.
Leah Kearney (2016-17; Volunteer): Leah worked on all the projects in the lab and helped run mutliple differnt experiments. Mostly, she ran a lot of the quail dominance experiments.
Eden Kleinhandler (2016-18; Thesis): Eden started out as a volunteer in the lab helping out with lots of different experiments and video coding. She then did her thesis (co-supervised by Dr. Mike Wilkie in Biology) on brumation in goldfish and what it does to their memory.
Jamal Lewis (2019-20; Volunteer): Jamal helped run experiments on fish and snakes. He mostly took over the organization, training, and running of one of the zebrafish experiments. He also helped code videos of that experiment while we were all at home hiding from the coronavirus.
Alexandra Mahon (2018-19; Volunteer): Lexy helped out with a range of experiments and coding of videos during her time in the lab.
Ayden Malekjahani (2016-17; Thesis): Ayden's thesis explored how and whether individual differences ('personality') in quail contribute to their dominance hierarchies.
Sarah Moawad (2018-19; Volunteer): Sarah helped out with a range of fish and quail experiments and coding of snake videos during her time in the lab.
Caitlyn Pelkey (2021-2002; Volunteer): Caitlyn had the misfortune to spend her time in the lab during COVID, which meant she mostly got to code videos of snakes and meet up with everyone else on Zoom. Pandemics suck.
Kaitlin Petter (2015-16; Directed Studies): Kaitlin was one of the founding volunteers in the lab and help set up and run experiments with both pigeons and fish. Her directed studies project explored the somewhat neglected field of courtship and mating behaviors in zebrafish.
Bailey Rand (2021-2022; Thesis): Bailey's thesis explored whether guppies can use the surface of the water (from underneath) as a mirror to detect things they couldn't otherwise see (like hidden predators). The guppies took months to train, but Bailey persevered!
Rhyan Rodrigues (2018-19; Thesis): Rhyan's thesis explored how drugs affect collective decisions to avoid a group in zebrafish.
Sandy Salama (2019-20; Volunteer): Sandy helped run experiments on zebrafish and, when coronavirus shut down the lab, spent many hours coding fish behavior videos.
Mackenzie Schultz (2015-18; Lab Manager): Mackenzie did everything in the lab. She was the lab manager for three years until she graduated and went to grad school. She ran her own experiments (on social choice in quail), supervised everyone else, and kept the lab running, clean, and sane.
Britney Sekulovski (2019-22; Thesis): Britney volunteered in the lab for two years, working on basically everything (coding snake videos, running fish experiments, caring for the animals...), before doing her thesis on collective decision-making in zebrafish, for which she made resin fish. She also ran her own experiment on blind cave-fish at the same time, and was an NSERC Summer RA, twice.
Gitika Sharma (2017-18; Thesis): Gitika's thesis was on how personality in zebrafish correlates with their ability to learn spatial things. She also helped out with other fish experiments.
Ashley Siegel (2016-17; Volunteer): Ashley helped run quail and zebrafish experiments.
Madison Smith (2015-16; Thesis): Madison's thesis focused on consistent individual differences in zebrafish and how the composition of zebrafish groups affects their collective behavior.
Emily Staffiere (2016-18; Thesis): Emily started out as a volunteer in the lab working with pigeons, quail, and fish, and then did her immense thesis on how testosterone levels can explain dominance hierarchies in quail.
Jessica Star (2019; Volunteer): Jess helped run experiments on zebrafish social choice and personality.
Stefani Trovato (2016-17; Directed Studies): Stefani helped with several studies over the summer but her own project was on same-different learning in pigeons and how complex their representations are.
Brooke Vella (2021-2022; Thesis): Brooke's thesis was on what kinds of things garter snakes can learn. Since we know very little about this, Brooke tried several different things (observational conditioning; visual cues), most of which the snakes did not do well with.
Sarah Wahba (2015-16; Directed Studies): Sarah first volunteered in the lab, helping with a wide range of experiments, and then her directed studies helped develop our 3D operant box.