This page is referenced by:

• 1 2021-09-14T15:45:06+00:00 Dr. William Wright 8 Schmid plain 2021-09-17T23:38:07+00:00
  
  
  
  Email: wwright@chapman.edu
  Website: https://sites.chapman.edu/wwright/
  
  College: Schmid College of Science and Technology
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Overview of scholarly research/creative activity: 
  With field and lab experiments we ask:
  1. How do learning and memory change across evolution, at neurobiological, behavioral , and ecological levels? 
  2. How do heat-spells impact the territorial behavior of the owl limpet Lottia gigantea? 
  3. How does climate change impact nervous systems and animal behavior ?
  
  Specific projects working on:  We have observed effects of ocean acidification on behavior and learning, measured at both neurobiological and behavioral levels.  Undergraduate students and I have shown that hermit crabs reduce their vigilance response to predator scent if the water is acidified by carbon dioxide equivalent to the expected levels in the next century.  We have also shown how carbon-dioxide induced acidification enhances sensitization (a simple form of learning) in sea hares.  Most recently, we are testing an ionic hypothesis of carbon dioxide's effect on nervous systems in the simple nervous system of the sea hare.
  
  Number of students looking to work with: 3 to 4
  
  Time commitment for students: 9 hours per week is minimum.
  
  When students are needed: Interterm,Spring, and Summer 2022
  
  Requirements for students who work with you:  Second-year biology students most preferable.  Third-year second most preferable.  First-year third.
  
  What would students be expected to do​​​​​​: We work in the field and in the lab.  We study adaptive behavior and its underlying mechanisms.
  
  Additional information: We should talk before anything is decided!
• 1 2021-09-14T15:45:06+00:00 Open 2 Schmid plain 2021-09-14T19:08:37+00:00
  
  Email: wwright@chapman.edu
  Website:  https://sites.chapman.edu/wwright/
  
  College: Schmid College of Science and Technology
  Department: Life and Environmental Science
  
  Overview of scholarly research/creative activity:  I am excited in equal measure by:
  -the scientific discovery of a new phenomenon heretofore unknown,
  -the excitement in my undergraduate collaborators by that discovery.
  We ask focused questions about marine invertebrates that cross disciplinary lines, ranging from cellular neurophysiology to evolution.
    
  Specific projects working on:  Present research efforts include:
  Research on learning and memory at neural, behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary levels. 
  Marine Invertebrate Behavior Under Global Climate Change:  When do predators attack, when do prey avoid, and how are these interactions impacted by global climate change?  We aim to understand these interactions at neural, behavioral, and ecological levels.
  Ecology of Dislodgment in the Rocky Intertidal.  Dislodgment is a critically important risk for limpets (a kind of snail) in the intertidal.  The MIB lab investigates multiple manifestations of this risk, including bail-out behavior, damage or dislodgment by wave-born rocks, dislodgment by waves during high-speed territorial chase, dislodgment by aggressive territorial response, behavior change after new territorial experience, and survival after dislodgment.
  
  Number of students looking to work with: 3-4
  
  Time commitment for students:  Meet once per week, 9 h per week commitment.
  
  When students are needed: Not this AY
  
  Requirements for students who work with you:  A solid 9-h per week effort all semester long!
  
  What would students be expected to do​​​​​​: Lab and field experiments, discussion of the science, literature review, planning data collection, etc.
  Additional Information: Historically the Marine Invertebrate Behavior lab has been a cauldron of discovery and excitement.  I will be coming off of a sabbatical year, and will be very interested in new interesting collaborations.  Please see web page:
  https://sites.chapman.edu/wwright/