image: UC associate professor Nathan Morehouse uses micro-spectrophotometry to measure how the photoreceptor cells in spiders absorb light. view more
Credit: Jay Yocis/UC
The University of Cincinnati will play host to the fourth annual regional conference UC founded to share research into sensory ecology and biology.
Sensorium 2022 will showcase UC’s new Digital Futures building, home to collaborative labs such as the Institute for Research in Sensing directed by one of conference organizers, UC associate professor Nathan Morehouse.
The conference Nov. 19 and 20 will feature several presentations by UC student and faculty researchers on diverse topics such as the vision of fiddler crabs and echolocation by bats.
Researchers will give 28 poster presentations as well as individual talks.
UC doctoral student Oluwaseun Ajayi will discuss his research into how sleep-deprived mosquitoes prefer to catch up on sleep rather than to hunt for food. His latest study was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
David Morris, a graduate student in Morehouse’s lab, will discuss the evolution of the bright ornamental coloring of paradise jumping spiders.
UC’s Institute for Research in Sensing brings together experts in the sciences, fine arts and humanities to examine senses and perception.
“Sensorium showcases one of those deep strengths at UC, the study of sensing and perception in nonhuman animals,” Morehouse said.
UC’s researchers have made startling discoveries about the ways animals perceive and navigate the world, from revealing novel ways that tree snakes climb to using diving beetles to understand our own visual impairments. Researchers are learning more about the amazing echolocation of bats that can even find insects hiding on leaves.
Morehouse said Sensorium also attracts interest from engineers who want to apply what we learn about animal abilities to practical applications in fields such as medicine, autonomous transportation and pollution remediation.
“The natural world is like a billions-year-old research and development department,” Morehouse said. “Nature has arrived at elegant solutions to problems that we face as well. It’s a good place to look for inspiration when you run out of obvious answers.”