Biology Professor Presented Research
Posted on Monday, August 9, 2010
Dr. Katherine Robertson, Westminster College associate professor of biology, presented part of her ongoing research on brain plasticity at the 47th annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society July 29 in Williamsburg, Va.
Research for the presentation, "Adaptation to an Environmental Change in the Olfactory System of Drosophila," was co-authored by Andrew Bennett, a 2010 Westminster graduate who majored in biology, and former Westminster student Rebecca Walter.
"My research demonstrates that flies achieve adaptive flexibility because of a balance between excitatory and inhibitory nerves in their brains," Robertson said. "Flies are a model organism and these mechanisms likely operate in other organisms, too."
Robertson, who joined the Westminster faculty in 2005, earned an undergraduate degree from Paddington College, United Kingdom, and master's and Ph.D. from the University of London.
Contact Robertson at (724) 946-7213 or e-mail robertkl@westminster.edu for additional information.
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