- Answer exciting questions about the behavior of animals and their vision, and the conservation of wildlife.

- Have fun doing good research.

- Do a lot of thinking.

- Sharpen organizational skills.

- Meet people and work in a friendly environment.

- Learn how to pose questions that can be answered using the scientific method.

- Learn how to design and conduct experiments with animals by manipulating things.

- Learn how to enhance your job opportunities.

Who can get involved in research at the Behavior & Conservation Lab?

Any undergraduate student enrolled at CSULB. Given the diversity of methodological approaches we use (lab work, field work, semi-natural experiments), students from different options can learn useful techniques, including those in the General Bio, Ecology, Zoology, and Physiology options.

What does it take to join the Behavior & Conservation Lab?

- Willingness to learn and cooperate with the lab members.

- Responsibility.

- Curiosity.

- Enthusiasm.

Can you try and see what it is like to work at the Behavior & Conservation Lab?

Of course!

Actually, we encourage you to try different projects and see what suits you more (lab- or field-oriented, time-wise, etc.). Then, you decide whether to join us or not and the time you can spend in the lab.

You can join the lab as a volunteer or take a Directed Research unit (Bio 496), which will count for your program.

What kind of work can you do at the Behavior & Conservation Lab?

Currently, you can participate in three major types of activities :

- Lab work related to vision (suitable to those interested in Optometry, for instance), where you will learn how to extract retinas, process them histologically for photoreceptors (cones and rods) and retinal ganglion cells, measure visual fields with an ophthalmoscope, and identify the visual pigments and oil droplets in the retina with a microspectrophotometer.

- Semi-natural experiments to study animal behavior under controlled conditions. These experiments are done on campus.

- Field work, where you will survey wildlife populations or observe the behavior of animals. Study sites are in different parts of Southern California depending upon the project. 

Learn more about our research interests, current projects, and methodological approaches.