Rachel Berquist
Staff Scientist/Digital Fish Library Curator
B.Sc. (Biological Sciences), University of Auckland, New Zealand
M.Sc. (Zoology), University of Auckland, New Zealand
Ph.D. (Zoology/Neuroscience), University of Otago, New Zealand
Research Interests
My primary research interest is the anatomy and physiology of sensory systems in fish and how this relates to behavior, with a particular emphasis on prey localization and conspecific localization behaviors. Some of the tools I use to investigate this include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), behavioral observation, neurophysiological recording, histology, 3D graphical modeling and computational modeling. Recent work in previous labs has applied combinations of these tools to investigate the neural basis of electrosensory detection in sharks, sound localization in toadfish and temporal patterns of feeding and movement behavior in reef fish. My current research at CSCI focuses on the application of MRI methods to investigate the comparative morphology of fishes.
Research Projects
As a staff scientist with CSCI, I work on various collaborative research projects involving the application of a range of high-field anatomical MRI, functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging methods in fish as well as in rodent medical models. Some studies I'm presently working on include: morphological analysis of ponyfish (Leiognathid) light organ systems, led by Prosanta Chakrabarty at LSU; the comparative morphology of auditory accessory structures in cichlid fish, led by John Sparks at AMNH; morphological adaptations in hypogean (cave-dwelling) fish in the family Amblyopsidae, led by Al Romero at SIUE; and morphological imaging of respiratory structures in air-breathing fishes, led by Jeff Graham at UCSD.
I am also the curator of the Digital Fish Library (DFL), a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project at UCSD that is using MRI to map the morphological diversity of the world's fishes at the family level. I regularly work in conjunction with ichthyologists at the Marine Vertebrate Collection at Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO), Earthguide educators at SIO, MR specialists at both the Center for Functional MRI and our local Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, as well as the web developer, science writer, and MR data analyst at CSCI. My work with the DFL involves the selection and preparation of specimens for imaging, the acquisition of high-resolution MR image data using the 7-Teslar small animal magnet at CFMRI, image data processing, analysis and upload into the DFL database, 3D volume rendering and segmentation of image data for select fish, and overseeing of the DFL database and web-site content development.
