Past Faculty
301 405 8061
Henry Adler
Faculty Research Associate
UMD Biology
4212 Biology-Psychology Bldg.
Research Interests : Research in the Laboratory of Comparative Psychoacoustics is aimed at understanding how animals communicate with one another using sound and whether there are parallels with how humans communicate with one another using speech and language. Birds such as songbirds and parrots, like humans, rely on hearing and learning to develop a normal vocal repertoire. We often study budgerigars (parakeets), canaries, zebra finches, and other small birds. For instance, we have specific projects on vocal learning and vocal development in budgerigars, the regeneration of auditory hair cells and recovery of hearing and the vocalizations in small birds following hearing damage, and the effect of noise on hearing. Other studies focus on how small birds localize sounds, how they perceive complex sounds such as bird vocalizations and human speech, and how the bird ear functions.
Animals : Birds
202-476-4996
Vittorio Gallo
Wolfpack Chair in Neuroscience, Adjunct Prof (UMD)
Dept. of Pediatrics and Pharmacology, College of Chemical and Life Sciences
2239 Biology-Psychology Building
Research Interests : My current and future research interests are in the fields of developmental neuroscience and in nervous system disease. They include: i) neurogenesis and gliogenesis; ii) oligodendrocyte development and myelination; iii) glial signaling; and iv) regulation of glial ionic channels during brain development. My laboratory uses an integrated, multidisciplinary approach that includes molecular biology and genetics, cellular neurobiology and electrophysiology. We are combining experiments performed in different types of neural cell cultures with studies performed in transgenic mice in vivo.
Animals : mice
Campus Institute : Affiliated UM
Eugene Morton
C-CEBH Affiliated, Senior Scientist Emeritus Migratory Bird Center, Adjunct Professor Biology
Department of Biology York University (Toronto, Canada),Smithsonian Institution
Research Interests : "His work addresses fundamental questions, such as, how do tropical birds (which comprise the vast majority of bird species) challenge our understanding of avian biology which is based on the study of a small number of familiar temperate zone species. He is also interested in the evolution of real mating systems, the role of disease in shaping the interaction between the sexes, plant-animal interactions, and whatever else trips his imagination.
Animals : Birds
Campus Institute : Affiliated UM
Lab : Lab
301 405 1016
David Poeppel
Professor
UMD Linguistics, Biology
3416G Marie Mount Hall
Research Interests : "Research in the lab proceeds principally on four fronts: 1- human auditory cortex physiology 2- neural basis of speech perception 3- auditory/speech psychophysics 4- (mostly lexical level) psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics."
Animals : Humans
Elizabeth Quinlan
Associate Professor
UMD Biology
1110 Biosciences Research Building
Research Interests : We are interested in understanding how the brain is modified by experience, particularly during the maturation of sensory systems and during learning. Experience-dependent regulation of brain function ultimately lies in changes in the composition and function of synapses, the points of contact between neurons. We use a multidisciplinary approach (biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology and behavior) to study the molecular mechanisms of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity in the mammalian cerebral cortex.
Animals : Rodents
Lab : Quinlan Lab
