Insect Neuro Lab

Abbi Farley re-joined the lab this week, this time as our insect technician. Welcome back Abbi, great to be working with you again! 😀

Matthew and Catherine’s review about mosquito olfactory systems is out! We wrote about the least known and latest findings about the mossie nose – have a look here: Olfactory systems across mosquito species Matthew Wheelwright, Catherine R. Whittle & Olena Riabinina Cell and Tissue Research (2021) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00441-020-03407-2

Our first PhD student Matt Quinn has just joined the lab! Matt is funded by BBSRC NLD PhD programme for the next 4 years and will work on sensory perception in the mosquito larvae. Welcome Matt!

The project description is here and also below: Anatomy and function of the mosquito olfactory system Project description Malaria mosquito is one of the deadliest animals on Earth, causing more than 400,000 death per year and affecting half of the world population. Our fight against malaria has currently stalled, due to the emerging insecticide resistance […]

The job is for 17.5h/week, flexible hours and would suit a student or anyone looking for a lab experience before applying for a Masters/PhD: https://durham.taleo.net/careersection/du_ext/jobdetail.ftl?job=20000697&lang=en Informal enquiries to Lena are welcome!

We have a PhD vacancy for a chemical+sensory ecology project! The project will investigate how bumblebees use floral smells, and how the perception of smells changes under stress. The project will involve field collections and lab work in Germany and in the UK. Please read more here and apply! https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/how-does-stress-affect-floral-smell-preferences-of-bumblebees/?p125521

Another great news – Michelle Leung has joined the lab as an undergraduate researcher! Welcome Michelle!

Good news – our lab is growing considerably this October! Amy Sharpe will join the lab for her 3rd year undergraduate research project, Katie Keane and Suvi Siren will do their MBiol projects and Rob Hobbs will do his MSci (MbiolChem) project jointly in our lab and in the Chemistry Department at Durham. Finally, Kyle […]

We are excited to welcome to the lab Orsolya Folsz and Catherine Whittle, first-year Durham Biosciences students, for their summer projects. Orsolya is funded by a Laidlaw scholarship, and Catherine is supported by the Departmental Summer scholarship and Genetics Society Summer Studentship. While the wet lab projects are not currently available and have to be […]

Exciting news!! We have a competitively-funded PhD vacancy, to study vision in mosquito larvae. The project will be co-supervised by Vivek Nityananda (Newcastle) and Natalie Hempel de Ibarra (Exeter). Full description is here: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/visual-processing-in-mosquito-larvae/?p120929 The position is fully funded for UK citizens and EU citizens who lived in the UK for the past 3 years. […]