Two scientists at UC Santa Barbara whose work has contributed in significant ways to our understanding of nature and of our place in it have been recognized by the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. 

Brain scientist Miguel Eckstein(link is external) and evolutionary biologist Todd Oakley(link is external) are recipients of 2019 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships. The prestigious awards are given to those whose work adds “to the educational, literary, artistic, and scientific power of this country, and also to provide for the cause of better international understanding.” 

Eyes detect light and convert it into electrochemical impulses in neurons. The process is the precursor to vision in complex beings. Yet some simple organisms, such as jellyfish (cnidarians), also have many types of eyes that use the same photoreceptive proteins, called opsins, as animals like flies and humans.

The octopus has a unique ability. It can change the color, pattern and even texture of its skin not only for purposes of camouflage but also as a means of communication. The most intelligent, most mobile and largest of all mollusks, these cephalopods use their almost humanlike eyes to send signals to pigmented organs in their skin called chromatophores, which expand and contract to alter their appearance.

New research on bioluminescent ostracods shows how tiny crustaceans are helping scientists to understand evolution by sexual selection.