MARK WILLIS, PHD
Associate Professor of Biology
Research Interests
Dr. Willis' main research effort is an in-depth study of the sensorimotor control of pheromone-guided flight in the giant sphinx moth Manduca sexta. In part this work involves continuation of previous studies of electomyograms (EMGs) recorded from identified flight muscles during free flight in a wind tunnel by means of both fine-wire tethers and radio telemetry. In addition, Dr. Willis has begun to fabricate a closed-loop flight simulator to begin to develop techniques for recording from, and stimulating, the CNS of freely flying moths. He has already made preliminary recordings with multichannel electrode arrays and the results are most promising. A side project in collaboration with Prof. Dickinson at the University of California - Berkeley is directed toward measuring the flight forces generated by the wing movement kinematics he and his coworkers have recorded with high-speed 3D video techniques. A secondary collaborative project focuses on modeling odor-guided locomotion.
To view more information regarding Dr. Willis' research, including videos of moths in flight, visit his lab website.
|
