Ph.D.
in Entomology, 2000, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.S. in Entomology, 1996, University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign
B.S.
in
Biology,
1993, University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
Contact
phone: (304)
293-5201
office: ext. 31528
laboratory: ext. 31518
email:
Sarah.Farris@mail.wvu.edu
Posted 10/20/09: Are you interested in graduate research on
insect brain evolution?
2 years of funding is now available for a Ph.D. student to study social
behavior
and mushroom body evolution in wasps (Vespidae, Hymenoptera). Position
begins in August, 2010. Please contact me via the above
email if
interested!
Higher brain centers integrate
sensory information, plan and direct
behavior, and perform other complex tasks such as learning and memory
formation. In vertebrates like ourselves, the cerebral cortex,
hippocampus and cerebellum are among the higher brain centers that
perform these tasks. Invertebrates also have higher brain centers; in
insects, they're called mushroom bodies.
Research in the Farris
laboratory explores the evolution of higher brain centers using the
insect mushroom bodies as a model system. In particular, we are
interested in how an insect's behavior shapes the evolution of mushroom
body structure and function. These studies are revealing that patterns
of brain and behavioral evolution in insects share
many similarities with those of vertebrates.
Courses
Undergraduate:
Basic
Neurobiology (BIOL 347)
Developmental
Biology (BIOL 315)
Graduate:
Evolution
and Development of the Nervous
System (BIOL 737)
Other Interesting Stuff
Sarah M. Farris