Dr. Adam Blake
PhD, December, 2020, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
Master of Science, Ecology September, 2010 Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Conservation Sciences April, 2006 University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
I’m interested in insect sensory systems (especially the visual system), how these sensory systems affect the behavioral choices of insects, and how these choices structure the distribution of these insects in space and time.
My earlier research at the University of Alberta during my MSc focused on the Western Canadian Canola agro-ecosystem and its pests. During my PhD at Simon Fraser University, I investigated how herbivorous insects, in this case the Cabbage White Butterfly, use the polarization of light as plant host cue. Following my PhD, I stayed on at Simon Fraser as a postdoc, where I continued my work with polarized light, examining its role in vertebrate host seeking.
In my current role as a postdoc in the Riffell Lab, my project investigates how olfactory cues can influence the attractiveness of visual cues (polarization, color, intensity, contrast) to mosquitos such as Aedes aegypti.