Emily Baird Professor

My research program is focussed on understanding the link between the visual world of animals and how the brain uses visual information to guide behaviour in different environments. To do this, I take a comparative approach that uses a combination of behavioural experiments and anatomical analyses using X-ray micro computed-tomography using bumblebees and dung beetles as primary model systems.

I currently lead two exciting inter-disciplinary collaborative projects:

Dlife: Miniature creatures performing performing extraordinary feats with limited resources (http://dlife.sdu.dk/), a collaboration with Poromate Manoonpong's group at the University of Southern Denmark and Stanislav Gorb's group at the University of Kiel funded by the Human Frontiers Science Project

INVISMO (INsect Vision and Movement): A new frameworkfor predicting insect pollinator habitat requirements, a collaboration with Henrik Smith's group at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Research at Lund University and Niklas Wahlberg's group at the Department of Biology at Lund University funded by the Swedish Research Council

Latest articles showing the micro-CT based method we have recently developed for visualising the visual world of insects:

Imaging ancient fungus gnat eyes from amber: 

Taylor G, Hall S, Gren J, Baird E 2020 Exploring the visual world of fossilized and modern fungus gnat eyes (Diptera: Keroplatidae) with X-ray microtomography J Roy Soc Int  17 doi:10.1098/rrsif.2019.07502.    

Imaging bumblebee and honeybee eyes:

Taylor G, Tichit P, Schmidt M, Bodey A, Rau C, Baird E 2019 Bumblebee visual allometry results in locally improved resolution and globally improved sensitivity eLife 8:e40613

Wilby D, Aarts T, Tichit P, Bodey A, Rau C, Taylor G*, Baird E 2019 Using micro-CT techniques to explore the role of sex and hair in the functional morphology of bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) ocelli Vis Res 158:100-108

Latest opinion piece on how conservation biology can benefit from sensory ecology 

Dominoni DM, Halfwerk W, Baird E, Buxton R, Fernandez-Jurcic E, Fristrup K, McKenna M, Mennitt D, Perkin E, Seymoure BM, Stoner DC, Tennessen J, Toth CA, Tyrell LP, Wilson A, Francis CD, Carter NH, Barber J 2020 What conservation biology can benefit from sensory ecology Nat Ecol Evol doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-1135-4

There are always opportunities for different types of projects in my lab, from Bachelor and Masters to PhD and postdoctoral levels. If you are interested, please contact me.