Dr. Lauren Eve Simonitis

Lauren (she/her/ella) is an aquatic sensory biologist interested in how animals use their sensory systems to understand their environment and impact their role in predator prey relationships. From the prey perspective, she focuses on how animals use ink as a chemically mediated antipredator defense. She also studies the olfactory system of a common ocean predator- sharks- by describing the general morphology, distribution of sensory structures, and fluid dynamics of different Chondrichtyhan nasal morphologies. Lauren employs a suite of biovisualization techniques including histology, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and computed tomography (CT) scanning to visualize the noses of sharks and their relatives.

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Lauren is currently a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology at both Florida Atlantic University and the University of Washington.

 

Lauren received a dual B.S. in Marine Science and Biology from the University of Miami and a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University.