Biological science researchers at Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences built a custom electroretinography device to investigate how animal visual systems process light and interact with their environments.
- Researchers built an electroretinography device featuring a lamp, optics, electrodes, an amplifier, and a data-acquisition system to measure eye responses to light stimuli.
- Graduate students Tanner Mierow and Madeline Marquardt use the tool to study the broad visual sensitivity of aquatic insects and snapping shrimp habitats.
- The hardware directly supports ongoing scientific collaborations with external institutions including the Air Force Research Laboratory and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Alexandra Kingston and members of her team study the sensory ecology of animals with a focus on vision at Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences. To advance their inquiries into how visual systems function and relate to other complex traits, the team constructed an electroretinography device.
The system measures how photoreceptor cells turn light information into electrical signals sent to the brain. The device consists of a lamp producing light, optics to focus it, electrodes inserted into animal eyes, an amplifier, and a computer running specialized software.
Biological science doctoral student Tanner Mierow helped build the hardware. Mechanical engineering senior Cole Eberle constructed a Faraday cage from wood, copper mesh, and copper wires to protect the electrodes from electromagnetic interference.
“This was a fun and interesting project,” Eberle said.
| Component | Function | Contributor |
|---|---|---|
| ERG Hardware | Measures eye electrical responses to light stimuli | Tanner Mierow |
| Faraday Cage | Protects electrodes from electromagnetic noise | Cole Eberle |
| Visual Research | Investigates invertebrate sensory ecology | Alexandra Kingston |
Mierow uses the electroretinography device on a near-daily basis to record from the eyes of two aquatic insect species, Belostoma flumineum and Lethocerus medius. These insects hunt underwater during the day and fly at night to find new ponds.
“We’ve found that their eyes can function across an incredibly broad range of light intensities that spans five orders of magnitude, or a 100,000-fold difference in brightness,” Mierow said.
Meanwhile, doctoral student Madeline Marquardt investigates how habitat shapes the visual systems of snapping shrimp. She uses the device to test whether species from complex coral reefs possess faster temporal sampling rates.
“I am using the device to investigate whether visual physiology is different in snapping shrimp species from distinct habitats,” Marquardt said.
The hardware also anchors broader academic and federal partnerships across the United States. Participating external partners include The Nature Inspired Research Facility at the Air Force Research Laboratory, the University of South Carolina, Union College, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
“A full understanding of how animals use their eyes to interact with their environments requires determining which aspects are light are important to them,” Kingston said.
