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Dr. Natasha Mhatre, PI & chief worrier,
Assistant Professor & CRC in Invertebrate Neurobiology,
Department of Biology,
Western University.
We study mechanosensory systems. We also occasionally study the signalling end of the same systems. But what I really do is hope, fondly (and perhaps, crazily) that we can, for at least this small corner of biology, develop the sort of experimentally testable and tested, philosophical, theoretical and predictive framework that physics has managed. I acknowledge that I may have physics, or worse, maths envy. Worse still, I may still be hoping to earn the Ph part of my PhD. I think of this extension of this xkcd comic often.
Dr. Erin Brandt, Western Postdoctoral fellow
Dr. Erin Brandt is a postdoc in the Mhatre lab, starting in September 2019. She is broadly interested in sexual selection, thermal biology, and the mechanistic bases of behavior. Dr. Brandt graduated with her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from UC Berkeley in 2019. She conducted her dissertation work in the Elias Lab, focusing on how temperature impacts sexual behavior, physiology, and movement ecology in jumping spiders. Her work in the Mhatre lab examines the relationship between temperature, movement, and perception in spider sensory organs.
Grad students
Abolfazl Akbari is a Ph.D candidate in the Mhatre lab, and started in January 2021. Abolfazl graduated with his MSc in Mechanical Engineering and for his dissertation he designed a novel acoustic transducer for examining pipe flows with Dr. Chabok from USC. His research interests in Mhatre Lab are in the numerical modeling of insect hearing systems. In the future he would like to to develop devices based on biomimetic principles.
Hossein Asgari is a PhD candidate in the Mhatre lab, starting in May 2021. He has studied MSc Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. His dissertation focused on biomechanics where he analyzed movement patterns and kinematics of a wide range of runners obtained from an IMU mounted on the sacrum. His research interests in the Mhatre lab involve studying the biomechanics of spiders and capturing/analyzing their movements.
Undergrads
Yoshan Sasiharan, Undergrad and USRI fellow (Summer 2020)
Yoshan Sasiharan is coordinating our labs 3D pose estimation video analysis using DeepLabCut. He's also a Toronto Raptors fanatic!
Reese Gartly, Undergrad and Honours thesis student 2020-2021
Reese Gartly is an undergrad in integrated science doing her fourth year thesis exploring how leg morphology impacts spider mechanorecpetion. Outside of the lab she enjoys playing hockey, reading and being outdoors exploring everything she can!
Anastassia Mena, Undergrad and Honours thesis student 2020-2021
Anastassia Mena is studying animal behaviour and doing my thesis on the temperature dependent changes in spider leg extension forces. Outside of the lab, she spends equal amounts of time exploring the great outdoors and watching animal documentaries.
Sarah Duke, Undergrad and Honours thesis student 2020-2021
Sarah Duke is currently working on the morphology of cricket wings in regards to their sound efficiency and will be conducting a thesis on cricket wing venation in flatwing mutants. Outside of the lab, she enjoys working her right brain by reading, embroidering, and attempting to teach herself how to cook.
Linda Wang, Undergrad and work-study researcher
Linda Wang is an undergrad helping us figure out how cricket wing shapes and sizes affect their singing efficiency. Outside the lab she enjoys playing video games, crocheting and reading discourse with her snakes.
Hiba Elhassan is an undergraduate Integrated Science student working in the lab. She is responsible for feeding, providing, and caring for the spiders used in our research. She enjoys cooking, drawing, and playing video games during her free time.
Zuha Pathan is an undergrad studying business and science. She is currently helping run the invertebrate breeding program. Beyond the lab, Zuha loves to create digital art and paint!
Nancy Kim is a computer science undergrad who is helping us set up some databases. Outside of the lab, Nancy enjoys organizing gaming sessions with friends and watching foreign shows.