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Details for Professor Nicholas Roberts

Personal details
Name Professor Nicholas Roberts
Job title Professor of Sensory Ecology
Department School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol
Personal web page http://www.bris.ac.uk/biology/person/index.html?personKey=RxkE1PnnmHPN33qAk7Mw3Y7XItyl0E
Contact details This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations Office.

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work+44 (0)117 331 8092
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Qualifications MPhys (Manc.), PhD(Manc.)
Professional details
Keywords animal vision
light and colour in nature
polarized light
photoreceptor biology
stomatopods / mantis shrimps
Areas of expertise I am primarily interested the detection of light and colour in nature. My research is focused on investigating optical mechanisms that underlie sensory abilities such as polarization vision and the evolution of the bio-optics of signaling and photoreception. My work adopts a broad intra- and inter-disciplinary approach, using a combination of physics based techniques (microspectrophotometry, laser tweezing, optical modelling and X-ray scattering) and behavioural studies (operant conditioning and novel optomotor techniques). Ultimately, I want to understand how visual information helps guide aspects of animal behaviour.