Marine invertebrates
Marine invertebrates
In the van Giesen lab we study sensory perception and processing in marine invertebrates. Navigating through a world full of complex information necessitates elaborate sensory organs that are capable of filtering and encoding relevant signals to guarantee the animals survival. These sensory cells and organs are the first connection between the outside world and the nervous system of the animal and are composed of complex cellular and molecular features that have evolved to suit the animal’s unique behavior.
Environmental conditions on our planet are constantly changing and in order to understand how animals have evolved and can adapt to changing conditions, we work to understand fundamental principles of sensory biology.
In the lab we have an interest in cellular physiology, to understand how cellular and molecular determinants evolve to enable organisms to sense and adapt to their specific niche in the environment. We use different methods to investigate these questions including behavior, anatomy, transcriptomics and electrophysiology.
Group members
Lena van Giesen
Associate professor
I am interested in how animals sense, integrate and encode external sensory stimuli to adapt to their specific niche in the environment. To answer these questions, I have worked with a number of different organisms and methods. During my PhD in Fribourg (Switzerland) I studied how the Drosophila larvae encodes a variety of chemical signals with a small number of neurons using calcium imaging in a custom designed microfluidic chip.
After finishing my PhD, I moved to the US, first to Brandeis University (Waltham, MA) where I worked on the genetic basis of temperature sensation in flies and mosquitoes and later to Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) where I started working with marine invertebrates, using a combination of native cell electrophysiology, expression systems, transcriptomic and behavioral data analysis.
Marte Lønnum
Master Student
I did my Bachelor's degree in animal physiology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and will continue at the same University for my Master's degree. For my master thesis I will dive into the intriguing field of sensory biology. I am a homebody who enjoys cooking very much, and I also like hiking. When the weekend arrives, I work as a bartender here in Trondheim.