{"id":2076,"date":"2020-06-27T18:41:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-27T23:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scorpionlab.douglasgaffin.com\/?page_id=2076"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T19:20:09","slug":"scorpion-lab-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/scorpionlab.douglasgaffin.com\/?page_id=2076","title":{"rendered":"Scorpion Lab News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[April 2026]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fine-grained animation<\/a> of putative scorpion navigation via familiarity with a local sensor (petines).<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Longer-ranged example<\/a> of scorpion familiarity navigation.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[August 2025]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sof\u00eda graduates and has her research published in Arthropoda<\/a><\/em>!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sof\u00eda graduated with her undergraduate degree from OU in December, 2025. Recently, an account of the research she began in September 2024 was published in the journal Arthropoda<\/em>. Congratulations Sof\u00eda!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[February 2023]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doug is featured in the OU library’s Profiles in Open<\/a><\/em> initiative<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Doug discusses how open access publication has increased the visibility of recent scorpion lab publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

New scorpion podcast<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Walker Creasman produced a great new podcast called “VenoTALKsic Scorpions<\/a>” for his elementary school project. Nice job Walker!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Walker accepts award for his podcast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[December 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis graduates with honors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alexis successfully defended her thesis exploring path integration in sand scorpions and graduated with her honors degree in biology. Congratulations Alexis!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alexis receives her diploma at the December graduation ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[August 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah starts vet school at LSU<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hannah defended her honors thesis and has moved to Baton Rouge to begin her journey of becoming a veterinarian. Good luck Hannah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Left: Hannah at LSU with her dogs who appear conflicted in their loyalties (L: Henry, R: Eddie). Right: Hannah after her blue coat ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[June 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah and Alexis presented at the American Arachnology meeting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hannah and Alexis successfully presented their research at the American Arachnology<\/em> annual meeting at University of California, Davis. Hannah gave an oral presentation and Alexis presented a poster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
From left: Hannah and Alexis before Hannah’s talk; Hannah in action; Alexis in action; Hannah and Alexis after the pressure was off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[April 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis and Hannah receive URD awards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis and Hannah received awards at the Honors College Awards Ceremony<\/em> for their presentations at the recent Undergraduate Research Day. Alexis took home top honors from the Honors College in the Biological Sciences category and Hannah was selected by the Biology Department as a co-recipient of the Vad Award for Best Presentation at Undergraduate Research Day. Congratulations to Alexis & Hannah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alexis Merchant (left) and Hannah Peeples (right) are flanked by Rich Hamerla (Dean, Honors College) and Doug Gaffin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[April 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria honored at McNair Scholars Banquet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Mu\u00f1oz was honored as a McNair Scholars<\/strong> graduate at the annual OU McNair Scholars Achievement Banquet<\/em><\/strong>. Maria accepted a prestigious offer for graduate school in the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois. Congratulation Maria and best of success in graduate school!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Maria Mu\u00f1oz (center) with the director of the McNair Scholars program, Sophia Bolin-Dills (left) and her research advisor, Doug Gaffin (right).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[April 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis and Hannah presented at URD 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis Merchant and Hannah Peeples gave outstanding presentations at the latest incarnation of OU’s Undergraduate Research Day. Alexis presented her work titled “Homing by path integration in desert grassland scorpions” and Hannah presented on “Assessment of the mechanosensory responses of peg sensilla on scorpion pectines.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Doug, Alexis, and Hannah imitate their favorite animal after URD 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Safra successfully defended her honors thesis.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[December 2021]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safra Shakir successfully defended her honors thesis titled “Analysis of synaptic integration in peg sensilla of scorpion pectines.” A lot of her work also appears in a recent publication for a special collection<\/a> in “Insect Senses: From Perception to Cognition.” Congratulations Safra!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Alexis and Hannah receive UROP awards to support their research.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[October 2021]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis Merchant and Hannah Peeples received funding from the OU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program<\/em> (UROP). Alexis is testing if scorpions show a form of navigation called path integration and Hannah is using electrophysiology to investigate the response properties of touch sensitive neurons in peg sensilla on scorpion pectines. Congratulations Alexis & Hannah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

New video featuring Dr. Carl Kloock highlights scorpion fluorescence. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[September 2021]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Carl Kloock of Cal State Bakersfield discusses the various hypotheses related to scorpion fluorescence in this Veritasium YouTube<\/em> video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n