Sonke Johnsen, Professor of Biology

Please note: Sonke has left the "Computational Media, Arts & Cultures" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	301 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone:	(919) 660-7321
Email Address:
Web Pages:	http://www.biology.duke.edu/johnsenlab/ http://opticsoflife.org/

Teaching (Spring 2024):

• BIOLOGY 427S.01, SENSORY BIOLOGY Synopsis

  Bio Sci 113, Tu 03:05 PM-05:35 PM

  (also cross-listed as NEUROSCI 427S.01, PSY 427S.01)

• BIOLOGY 427S.01, SENSORY BIOLOGY Synopsis

  Bio Sci 155, Tu 03:05 PM-05:35 PM

  (also cross-listed as NEUROSCI 427S.01, PSY 427S.01)

Education:

Ph.D.	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	1996
B.A.	Swarthmore College	1988

Specialties:

Organismal Biology and Behavior
ecology
Ecology and Population Biology
fisheries and fish ecology
Evolution
marine science

Research Interests: Comparative physiology; focusing on vision, crypsis, optics, and bioluminescence in the open ocean

Keywords:

Adaptation, Physiological • Aggression • Agonistic Behavior • Algorithms • Amino Acid Sequence • Animal behavior • Animal Structures • Animals • Anisotropy • Aquatic Organisms • Bahamas • Behavior, Animal • Biological Evolution • Biology • Bioluminescence • Biophysical Phenomena • Biophysics • Birefringence • Brachyura • Butterflies • Calcium Carbonate • Career Choice • Cephalopoda • Choice Behavior • Cognition • Color • Color Perception • Color Vision • Competitive Behavior • Computer Simulation • Contrast Sensitivity • Courtship • Cryptochromes • Crystallins • Cues • Decapodiformes • Differentiation • Dimerization • Eavesdropping • Ecology • Ecosystem • Electromagnetic Fields • Electron microscopy • Electron Probe Microanalysis • Eye • Faculty • Feeding Behavior • Female • Fishes • Flavoproteins • Florida • Form Perception • Fourier Analysis • Glutathione Transferase • History, 21st Century • Invertebrates • Iron • Lens, Crystalline • Light • Luminescent Measurements • Luminescent Proteins • Magnetics • Male • Marine Biology • Mating Preference, Animal • Mechanoreceptors • Microspectrophotometry • Models, Biological • Models, Theoretical • Molecular Sequence Data • Mollusca • Molting • Monte Carlo Method • Moths • Motion Perception • Motor Activity • Movement • Nervous System Physiological Phenomena • Neurobiology • Oceans and Seas • Octopodiformes • Ocular Physiological Phenomena • Ocular Physiological Processes • Optics • Optics and Photonics • Orientation • Oxides • Pacific Ocean • Palaemonidae • Particle Size • Passeriformes • Pattern Recognition, Visual • Pectinidae • Perception • Pheromones • Photic Stimulation • Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate • Phylogeny • Pigmentation • Polychaeta • Polyplacophora • Predatory Behavior • Psychophysics • Quantum Theory • Refraction, Ocular • Refractometry • Retinal Pigments • Rhodopsin • Rod Opsins • Salinity • Scattering, Radiation • Scyphozoa • Sea Urchins • Seawater • Selection • Sexual Behavior, Animal • Silicon Dioxide • Species Specificity • Specimen Handling • Spectrometry, Fluorescence • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization • Spectrum Analysis • Sperm Whale • Spiders • Static Electricity • Strongylocentrotus purpuratus • Temperature • Time Factors • United States • User-Computer Interface • Video Recording • Vision • Vision, Ocular • Visual Acuity • Visual Perception • Water • X-Ray Diffraction • Zooplankton

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

• Eleanor Caves  
• Kate Thomas  
• Laura E. Bagge  
•  

Postdocs Mentored

• Christine Bedore (May 01, 2013 - present)  
• Karin Akre (April 01, 2013 - present)  
• Yakir Gagnon (November 1, 2010 - July 01, 2013)  
• Sarah Zylinski (November 1, 2009 - September 15, 2012)  
• Sandra Cooke (September 1, 2008 - July 15, 2012)  
• Dina Leech (September 1, 2001 - March 1, 2003)  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

1. Caves, EM; Davis, AL; Nowicki, S; Johnsen, S, Backgrounds and the evolution of visual signals., Trends in ecology & evolution, vol. 39 no. 2 (February, 2024), pp. 188-198 [doi]  [abs]
2. Notar, JC; Go, MC; Johnsen, S, Learning without a brain: classical conditioning in the ophiuroid Ophiocoma echinata, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, vol. 77 no. 11 (November, 2023) [doi]  [abs]
3. Nilsson, D-E; Johnsen, S; Warrant, E, Cephalopod versus vertebrate eyes., Current biology : CB, vol. 33 no. 20 (October, 2023), pp. R1100-R1105 [doi]  [abs]
4. Caves, EM; Sutton, TT; Warrant, EJ; Johnsen, S, Measures and models of visual acuity in epipelagic and mesopelagic teleosts and elasmobranchs., Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, vol. 209 no. 5 (September, 2023), pp. 807-826 [doi]  [abs]
5. McCoy, DE; Shultz, AJ; Dall, JE; Dionne, JA; Johnsen, S, The carotenoid redshift: Physical basis and implications for visual signaling., Ecology and evolution, vol. 13 no. 9 (September, 2023), pp. e10408 [doi]  [abs]